Almost two decades after being forced out of the city she had grown to call home, exiled author Taslima Nasreen stepped onto Kolkata soil once again on Friday (31st July).
“I am really liking it here,” Nasreen said, her smile reflecting a sense of quiet relief as she landed at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.
For many, her arrival marks a historic moment. Nasreen was forced to leave Kolkata in 2007 following the then CPIM government’s surrender to a violent Muslim mob who were outraged by her memoir ‘Dwikhondito’. Having already fled Bangladesh years earlier after facing allegations of ‘blasphemy’, Kolkata had become her refuge, until that door, too, was abruptly shut.
“I never left Kolkata willingly; the then West Bengal government forced me to leave the state. Yet I never stopped hoping that one day I would return. Year after year passed, governments changed, and still the door remained closed,” she told reporters.
Now residing in Delhi on a long-term residence permit, Nasreen is back in the cultural heart of Bengal to speak her mind. On Saturday, she will take center stage at Rabindra Sadan for a public event focused on resisting fundamentalism.
Organisers confirmed she will receive a civic reception, recite her poetry, and participate in a panel discussion. The event is expected to feature high-profile figures, including West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and acclaimed author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay.
State Minister Agnimitra Paul strongly defended the visit, calling her return a moment of pride for the state. “During the previous government’s tenure, she was never given the opportunity to return,” Paul said. “The opposition talks so much about secularism, but when she wrote the truth in her book, they denied her security. Under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government, Taslima Nasreen’s arrival is a matter of joy for us.”
