Posted
February 7th, 2011
by
Profession: Novelist, poet and journalist
Taslima Nasrin was
publicly condemned to death in Bangladesh for blasphemy and a reward
given for her execution on 16 September 1993 by members of an armed
militant Muslim group, due to her novel Lajja (Shame).
Instead of condemning the calls for Nasrin’s murder, the Bangladesh
authorities charged Nasrin, on 4 June 1994, with ‘deliberate and
malicious intention of hurting the religious sentiments’ for an
interview given to an Indian newspaper. Nasrin fled to Europe on 10
August 1994 and has since lived abroad.
Her trial started in
Dhaka on 10 December 1994 in absentia, and has remained pending for
several years. Her latest novels continue to be banned by the
Bangladeshi authorities on the strength of their allegedly anti-Islamic
content. More than ten years since she fled Bangladesh, Nasrin still
cannot return without fear for her security, and for the past three
years she has lived in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Nasrin has applied for a permanent resident permit but, according to The Times of India ‘the
home ministry has preferred to extend it for six months keeping the
option of “periodical review” open due to her joining certain issues
every now and then.’ Her current visa was due to expire on 17 February
2008. On 14 February 2008, she was informed by India’s Ministry of
External Affairs that her visa would be extended for a further six
months. Nonetheless, the curbs on her freedom will remain. ‘An External
Affairs Ministry official told me that my permit would be extended. But I
would not be allowed to move out of this place, meet friends, accept
guests or return to Kolkata,’ Nasrin reportedly told the Indo-Asian News
Service (IANS).
On 21 November 2007,
Nasrin was moved to a Government ‘safe house’ after violent protests by
Muslim extremists in Kolkata, West Bengal, where Nasrin was living in
exile. She had flown from Kolkata to the western Indian city of Jaipur
on 22 November, but she has now been transported to the Indian capital,
Delhi, for her safety. Nasreen, however, is desperate to return to
Kolkata, believing that her ‘deportation’ is a political move on the
part of the Communist Party in order to gain Muslim votes, and that her
freedom is being unduly restricted.
According to reports,
police in Kolkata used tear gas and baton charges to control crowds
calling for her Indian visa to be cancelled. Rioters blocked roads and
set cars alight, and at least 43 people were hurt. More than 100 arrests
were made. The protests are believed to have been organised by the
predominantly Muslim All-India Minority Forum, who say that Taslima
Nasrin has ‘seriously hurt Muslim sentiments’ in her writings and are
calling for her Indian visa to be revoked.
***UPDATE: It is
now reported that, following a deterioration in her health while in the
Delhi ‘safe house’, Taslima Nasrin left India for Europe, to receive
medical treatment, on 19 March 2008.***
For more information on Taslima Nasrin, see the following links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7108880.stm
Honorary Member: English, Canadian, USA, American, French, Swedish, Swiss German, Austrian and Turkish PEN.
Originally posted with the url: www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/writersinexile/taslimanasrin/
