West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday assured exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen of full security during her visits to the state, saying the “days of threat culture are over.”Speaking at a felicitation event in Kolkata attended by Nasreen, Adhikari said she should feel free to visit West Bengal as often as she wishes.”Days of threat culture are over. Come to Bengal as many times as you want. It is my duty as CM to provide you with security whenever you visit Bengal,” Adhikari said.The remarks came a day after Nasreen made her first public visit to Kolkata in nearly two decades, describing her return as an emotional homecoming.
First public visit since 2007
Nasreen returned to Kolkata on Friday, marking her first public appearance in the city since 2007, when widespread protests over her memoir “Dwikhandito” forced her to leave the state.Speaking on her return, the exiled writer said coming back to Kolkata felt like returning to “my own country.”
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Nasreen had taken refuge in India after fleeing Bangladesh in the 1990s following threats over her writings. She lived in Kolkata for several years before leaving the city in 2007 amid protests against Dwikhandito.
Memoir triggered controversy
Her memoir, Dwikhandito (“Split in Two”), was banned by the then Left Front government in West Bengal in 2003 on the grounds that it allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of a section of the Muslim community.The ban and the protests surrounding the book eventually led to Nasreen leaving Kolkata, where she had been living in exile.Her latest visit has reignited discussions on freedom of expression, the treatment of exiled writers and West Bengal’s political climate, with Adhikari using the occasion to assure her of protection during future visits to the state.
