Who isn’t aware of the great Taslima Nasreen who shook the Bangla nation and also the world by carefully and vividly portraying the aftermath of the ‘Babri Masjid demolition’ in her infamous book ‘Lajja’ (Shame)?
Shortly after she apparently fled to India after the Bangladesh government issued a ‘fatwa’ against her, she devoted her entire time to the filed of writing. However, lately, she relocated to the United States. Reason?
“Was threatened by Islamists who killed atheist bloggers in B’desh. Worried,” Nasreen, 52, tweeted. “Will be back when feel safe” she assured that she has not left the nation permanently but would return soon. Nasreen also stated that she had asked for a meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh after receiving death threats but had received no response. “I often go to USA. To give lectures & to see my family. I havn’t left India permanently. Indian govt always provides security,” she said in another tweet.
Apparently, if sources are to be believed, her relocation came weeks later some masked attackers hacked secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das to death in Bangladesh, the third such deadly attack by suspected Islamists since February. Das had written a poem eulogising Nasreen, who had left the Muslim-majority country after she was accused of blasphemy over her novel ‘Lajja’, which depicts the persecution of a Hindu family.
After leaving Bangladesh, Nasreen spent a decade in Europe and the US before India granted her a temporary residential permit in 2004.
Bangladesh is an officially secular country but more than 90 percent of its 160 million population are Muslims. The country has seen a rise in attacks by religious extremists in recent years.
Since 2013, at least five bloggers have been attacked by Islamists after a hardline group, Hefazat-e-Islam, publicly sought the execution of atheists who organised mass protests against the rise of political Islam.
The gynaecologist-turned-author holds Swedish citizenship but she has long been seeking permanent residence in India, which she describes as her “cultural home”. New York-based advocacy group Center for Inquiry had said on Tuesday they had helped her relocate from India.
We have no clue about what happens next but can certainly hope for the best.
Tags: Bangladesh Taslima Nasreen
