Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen is set to return to Kolkata after 20 years, having been forced to leave West Bengal due to Islamist protests and threats over her writings. With a change in government in West Bengal, many historical wrongs are being undone in the state; the discontinuation of an unofficial ban on Nasreen setting foot in Kolkata is one of them.
Taslima Nasreen, who was forced to flee Kolkata in 2007 due to Islamist protests and threats, has received a collective invitation from three organisations to attend a literary event on 1st August 2026. The organisers are reported to have said that the Bangladeshi author will be reciting some of her poems and take part in a discussion after attending a civic reception in her honour.
The literary programme is being organised at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan cultural centre by Secular Mission, Paschimbonger Jonno (For West Bengal), and Human Rights Beyond Frontiers.
As per the organisers, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, state finance minister Swapan Dasgupta, and noted author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay will also attend the event.
Twenty years after being forced to flee Kolkata, Taslima Nasreen set to return: A political storm erupts in Bengal even before her arrival
As the news of the potential return of Taslima Nasreen to Kolkata surfaced, Islamists in and outside the political circles of West Bengal got triggered.
In this vein, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Akhruzzaman claimed that the “Lajja” author has on many occasions given statements against Muslims, Shariat and Islam, and is thus being welcomed by the “double-engine” BJP government.
“Look, Taslima Nasrin was a writer from Bangladesh. She has said a lot against the Muslim community, against Shariat in Islam. If someone speaks against the Muslims, then the double-engine government will respect them; what is there to say,” the TMC leader said.
Similarly, the Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA Naushad Siddiqui claimed that the BJP government is inviting her to West Bengal to say ‘provocative’ things against Muslims to divert attention from its supposed policy failures.
“The BJP came to power promising the Annapurna Scheme, cheaper electricity, and women’s safety. They have failed on all these fronts. Now, to divert people’s minds from their failures, they are bringing Taslima Nasreen to say something provocative about Muslims before she leaves. They will then try to spin this event as development,” Siddiqui said.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP has said that Taslima Nasreen’s return to West Bengal reflects the change in political environment of the state.
Welcoming the Bangladeshi author’s upcoming Kolkata visit, Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul said, “During the previous government’s tenure, she was never allowed to return. The opposition talks so much about secularism, but when she wrote the truth in her book, they denied her security. Under the Trinamool government, people of various communities were merely used as political tools. Today, under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government, Taslima Nasreen is coming on August 1; this is a matter of pride and joy for us.”
Notably, Taslima Nasreen was compelled to leave Bangladesh three decades ago due to threats from Islamist extremists. She has been residing in New Delhi since 2007, when the West Bengal government was pushed by Islamist fundamentalists to push her to leave Kolkata.
From opposing the hijab and Burqa to raising her voice against Islamist attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, Taslima Nasreen has been vocal on various issues even during her exile in New Delhi.
