Exiled author Taslima Nasrin to return to Kolkata after 19 years for a lit-meet against fundamentalism
The controversial author of popular novel 'Lajja' based on anti-Hindu mayhem in Bangladesh post-Babri demolition was quietly moved out of Kolkata in November 2007 after riots broke out in the city during protests by Islamic groups against her.
Taslima Nasrin announced that she will participate in a special programme at Rabindra Sadan on August 1, 2026 in Kolkata at a show organised by Secular Mission and Human Rights and Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Foundation (HRBFF).
Bangladeshi writer's turbulent relationship with Kolkata became one of the defining chapters of her decades-long exile.
The organisers have called her a “fiery symbol of resistance against religious fundamentalism”.
“It is confirmed that Taslima Nasrin is coming to Kolkata for the August 1 event.
We have received assurances from Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari regarding her security. The CM, and finance minister Swapan Dasgupta will be present on stage that day,” said Osman Mallick, one of the organisers.
Notably, another author Salman Rushdie’s return to New Delhi (India) actually occurred in April 2000 during the Vajpayee era -- , breaking a decade-long exile that followed the ban on The Satanic Verses.
The highlight of Rushdie's trip was attending the Commonwealth Writers' Prize ceremony in New Delhi. In fact, Salman Rushdie was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (won by J.M. Coetzee that year).
The grand ceremony in the national capital was presided over by the then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, who presented the awards.
Ms Taslima is also expected to address a press conference in the city a day after the literary meet.
This event marks a symbolic return for an author who was forced to leave Kolkata in 2007 amid violent protests and political controversy.
Her visit is expected to reopen memories of one of the most contentious episodes in West Bengal’s recent cultural history, when the city that she had come to regard as home became the epicentre of protests demanding her expulsion.
Nasrin has lived in exile since 1994 after facing a wave of threats in Bangladesh over her writings on women's rights and religion. She spent the next decade living in Europe and North America after being granted Swedish citizenship.
Although she found refuge abroad, she repeatedly spoke of her emotional attachment to Bengal and expressed a desire to live in Kolkata, a city she believed shared her language, culture and literary heritage.
That opportunity came in 2004 when India granted her a renewable residence permit. She settled in Kolkata, a city she called home. Rooted in the literary traditions shared across both Bengals, Nasrin resumed writing and became a visible presence in the city's cultural circles. But her stay in West Bengal proved controversial.
Her book 'Dwikhandito' was banned by then Marxist chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in 2003. The ban was overturned by the Calcutta High Court two years later.
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