Taslima Nasrin[a] (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion; some of her books are banned in Bangladesh.[2][3][4] She has also been blacklisted and banished from the Bengal region, both from Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.[5][6]

Taslima Nasrin
তসলিমা নাসরিন
Nasrin in 2019
Born (1962-08-25) 25 August 1962 (age 62)
EducationMymensingh Medical College[1]
Occupations
  • Author
  • activist
  • criticism of islam
Years active1973–present
MovementWomen's Equality, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, Atheist, Scientism, Tolerance
Spouses
  • (m. 1982; div. 1986)
  • (m. 1990; div. 1991)
  • Minar Mahmud
    (m. 1991; div. 1992)
Websitetaslimanasrin.com
Signature

She gained global attention by the beginning of 1990s owing to her essays and novels with feminist views and criticism of what she characterizes as all "misogynistic" religions.[7][8] Nasrin has been living in exile since 1994, with multiple fatwas calling for her death.[9] After living more than a decade in Europe and the United States, she moved to India in 2004 and has been staying there on a resident permit long-term, multiple-entry or 'X' visa since.[10][11]

Early life and career

edit

Nasrin is the daughter of Dr. Rajab Ali and Edul Ara, Bengali Muslims of Mymensingh. Her father was a physician, and a professor of Medical Jurisprudence in Mymensingh Medical College, also at Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College. After high school in 1976 (SSC) and higher secondary studies in college (HSC) in 1978, she studied medicine at the Mymensingh Medical College, an affiliated medical college of the University of Dhaka and graduated in 1984 with an MBBS degree.[12]

In college, she wrote and edited a poetry journal called Shenjuti.[13] After graduation, she worked at a family planning clinic in Mymensingh, then practised at the gynaecology department of Mitford hospital and at the anesthesia department of Dhaka Medical College hospital. While she studied and practised medicine, she saw girls who had been raped; she also heard women cry out in despair in the delivery room if their baby was a girl.[14] Born into a Muslim family, she became an atheist over time.[15] In the course of writing she took a feminist approach.[16]

Literary career

edit

Early in her literary career, Nasrin wrote mainly poetry, and published half a dozen collections of poetry between 1982 and 1993, often with female oppression as a theme, and often containing very graphic language.[14] She started publishing prose in the late 1980s, and produced three collections of essays and four novels before the publication of her documentary novel Lajja (Bengali: লজ্জা, romanizedLôjja, lit.'Shame') in which a Hindu family was being attacked by Muslim fanatics and decided to leave the country. Nasrin suffered a number of physical and other attacks for her critical scrutiny of Islam and her demand for women's equality. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets demanding her execution by hanging. In October 1993, a radical fundamentalist group called the Council of Islamic Soldiers offered a bounty for her death.[14][17]

In May 1994, she was interviewed by the Kolkata edition of The Statesman, which quoted her as calling for a revision of the Quran; she claims she only called for abolition of the Sharia, the Islamic religious law.[18] In August 1994 she was brought up on "charges of making inflammatory statements," and faced criticism from Islamic fundamentalists. A few hundred thousand demonstrators called her "an apostate appointed by imperial forces to vilify Islam"; a member of a "militant faction threatened to set loose thousands of poisonous snakes in the capital unless she was executed."[19] After spending two months in hiding, at the end of 1994 she escaped to Sweden, consequently ceasing her medical practice and becoming a full-time writer and activist.[20]

Life in exile

edit

After fleeing Bangladesh in 1994, Nasrin spent the next ten years in exile in Sweden, Germany, France and the US. She returned to the East and relocated to Kolkata, India, in 2004, where she lived until 2007. After she was physically attacked by fanatics in Hyderabad, she was forced to live under house arrest in Kolkata, and finally, she was made to leave West Bengal on 22 November 2007. She then lived under house arrest in New Delhi for three months. She left India in 2008 but later returned there from the United States.[citation needed]

Leaving Bangladesh towards the end of 1994, Nasrin lived in exile in Western Europe and North America for ten years. Her Bangladeshi passport had been revoked; she was granted citizenship by the Swedish government and took refuge in Germany.[21] She allegedly had to wait for six years (1994–1999) to get a visa to visit India. In 1998, she wrote Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood, her biographical account from birth to adolescence. She never got a Bangladeshi passport to return to the country to visit her parents, now both deceased.[21]

2004–2007, life in Kolkata

edit

In 2004, she was granted a renewable temporary residential permit by India and moved to Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, which shares a common heritage and language with Bangladesh; in an interview in 2007, after she had been forced to flee, she called Kolkata her home.[22] The government of India extended her visa to stay in the country on a periodic basis, though it refused to grant her Indian citizenship. While living in Kolkata, Nasrin regularly contributed to Indian newspapers and magazines, including Anandabazar Patrika and Desh, and, for some time, wrote a weekly column in the Bengali version of The Statesman.

Again her criticism of Islam was met with opposition from religious fundamentalists: in June 2006, Syed Noorur Rehaman Barkati, the imam of Kolkata's Tipu Sultan Mosque, admitted offering money to anyone who "blackened [that is, publicly humiliated] Ms Nasreen's face."[23][24][25] Even abroad controversy followed: on the US Independence Day weekend in 2005, she criticized US foreign policy and tried to read her poem titled "America" to a large Bengali crowd at the North American Bengali Conference at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but was booed off the stage.[26] Back in India, the "All India Muslim Personal Board (Jadeed)" offered 500,000 rupees for her beheading in March 2007. The group's president, Tauqeer Raza Khan, said the only way the bounty would be lifted was if Nasrin "apologises, burns her books and leaves."[27]

In 2007, elected and serving members of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen made threats against Taslima Nasreen,[28] pledging that the fatwa against her and Salman Rushdie were to be abided by.[29] While she was in Hyderabad releasing Telugu translations of her work, she was attacked by party members led by 3 MLAs- Mohammed Muqtada Khan, Mohammed Moazzam Khan and Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri - were then charged and arrested.[30][31][32][33]

Expulsion from Kolkata

edit

On 9 August 2007, Nasrin was in Hyderabad to present the Telugu translation of one of her novels, Shodh, when she was allegedly attacked by a mob, led by legislators from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an Indian political party.[34][35] A week later, on 17 August, Muslim leaders in Kolkata revived an old fatwa against her, urging her to leave the country and offering an unlimited amount of money to anybody who would kill her.[36] On 21 November, Kolkata witnessed a protest against Nasrin. A protest organised by the "All India Minority Forum" caused chaos in the city and forced the army's deployment to restore order.[37] After the riots, Nasrin was forced to move from Kolkata, her "adopted city,"[38] to Jaipur, and to New Delhi the following day.[39][40][failed verification][failed verification][41]

The government of India kept Nasrin in an undisclosed location in New Delhi, effectively under house arrest, for more than seven months.[42] In January 2008, she was selected for the Simone de Beauvoir award in recognition of her writing on women's rights,[43] but declined to go to Paris to receive the award.[44] She explained that "I don't want to leave India at this stage and would rather fight for my freedom here,"[45] but she had to be hospitalised for three days with several complaints.[46] The house arrest quickly acquired an international dimension: in a letter to the London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International, India's former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey urged the organisation to pressure the Indian government so Nasrin could safely return to Kolkata.[47]

From New Delhi, Nasrin commented: "I'm writing a lot, but not about Islam, It's not my subject now. This is about politics. In the last three months I have been put under severe pressure to leave [West] Bengal by the police."[48] In an email interview from the undisclosed safehouse, Nasrin talked about the stress caused by "this unendurable loneliness, this uncertainty and this deathly silence." She cancelled the publication of the sixth part of her autobiography Nei Kichu Nei ("No Entity"), and — under pressure — deleted some passages from Dwikhandito, the controversial book that was the boost for the riots in Kolkata.[49] She was forced to leave India on 19 March 2008.

Nasrin moved to Sweden in 2008 and later worked as a research scholar at New York University.[50] Since, as she claims, "her soul lived in India," she also pledged her body to the country, by awarding it for posthumous medical use to Gana Darpan, a Kolkata-based NGO, in 2005.[51] She eventually returned to India, but was forced to stay in New Delhi as the West Bengal government refused to permit her entry.[citation needed] Currently her visa received a one-year extension in 2016 and Nasreen is also seeking permanent residency in India but no decision has been taken on it by the Home Ministry.[52]

In 2015 Nasrin was threatened with death by Al Qaeda-linked extremists, and so the Center for Inquiry assisted her in travelling to the United States, where she now lives.[53] The Center for Inquiry (CFI) that helped evacuate her to the U.S. on 27 May gave an official statement in June 2015 stating that her safety "is only temporary if she cannot remain in the U.S., however, which is why CFI has established an emergency fund to help with food, housing, and the means for her to be safely settled".[54]

Literary works

edit

Do you really think a God who created the universe, billions of galaxies, stars, billions of planets- would promise to reward some little things in a pale blue dot (i.e Earth) for repeatedly saying that he is the greatest and kindest and for fasting? Such a great creator can't be so narcissist!
-Taslima Nasrin[55]

Nasrin started writing poetry when she was thirteen. While still at college in Mymensingh, she published and edited a literary magazine, SeNjuti ("Light in the dark"), from 1978 to 1983. She published her first collection of poems in 1986. Her second collection, Nirbashito Bahire Ontore ("Banished within and without") was published in 1989. She succeeded in attracting a wider readership when she started writing columns in late 1980s, and, in the early 1990s, she began writing novels, for which she has won significant acclaim.[38] In all, she has written more than thirty books of poetry, essays, novels, short stories, and memoirs, and her books have been translated into 20 different languages.

Her own experience of sexual abuse during adolescence and her work as a gynaecologist influenced her a great deal in writing about the treatment of women in Islam and against religion in general.[48] Her writing is characterised by two connected elements: her struggle with the religion of her native culture, and her feminist philosophy. She cites Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir as influences, and, when pushed to think of one closer to home, Begum Rokeya, who lived during the time of undivided Bengal.[56] Her later poetry also evidences a connection to place, to Bangladesh and India.[57]

Columns and essays

edit

In 1989 Nasrin began to contribute to the weekly political magazine Khaborer Kagoj, edited by Nayeemul Islam Khan, and published from Dhaka. Her feminist views and anti-religion remarks articles succeeded in drawing broad attention, and she shocked the religious and conservative society of Bangladesh by her radical comments and suggestions.[citation needed] Later she collected these columns in a volume titled Nirbachita Column, which in 1992 won her first Ananda Purashkar award, a prestigious award for Bengali writers. During her life in Kolkata, she contributed a weekly essay to the Bengali version of The Statesman, called Dainik Statesman. Taslima has always advocated for an Indian Uniform civil code,[58] and said that criticism of Islam is the only way to establish secularism in Islamic countries.[59] Taslima said that Triple talaq is despicable and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board should be abolished.[60] Taslima used to write articles for online media venture The Print in India.[61]

Novels

edit

In 1992 Nasrin produced two novellas which failed to draw attention.

Her breakthrough novel Lajja (Shame) was published in 1993, and attracted wide attention because of its controversial subject matter. It contained the struggle of a patriotic Bangladeshi Hindu family in a Muslim environment.[62][63] Initially written as a thin documentary, Lajja grew into a full-length novel as the author later revised it substantially. In six months' time, it sold 50,000 copies in Bangladesh before being banned by the government that same year.[62]

Her other famous novel is French Lover, published in year 2002.[citation needed]

Autobiography

edit

Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood, 2002), the first volume of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladeshi government in 1999 for "reckless comments" against Islam and the prophet Mohammad.[64] Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), the second part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2002.[65] Ka (Speak up), the third part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladeshi High Court in 2003. Under pressure from Indian Muslim activists, the book, which was published in West Bengal as Dwikhandita, was banned there also; some 3,000 copies were seized immediately.[66] The decision to ban the book was criticized by "a host of authors" in West Bengal,[67] but the ban was not lifted until 2005.[68][69] Sei Sob Ondhokar (Those Dark Days), the fourth part of her memoir, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2004.[70][71] To date, a total of seven parts of her autobiography have been published. "Ami bhalo nei tumi bhalo theko priyo desh", " Nei kichu nei" and "Nirbashito". All seven parts have been published by Peoples's Book Society, Kolkata. She received her second Ananda Purashkar award in 2000, for her memoir Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood, published in English in 2002).

Nasrin's life and works in adaptation

edit

Nasrin's life is the subject of a number of plays and songs, in the east and the west. The Swedish singer Magoria sang "Goddess in you, Taslima,"[72] and the French band Zebda composed "Don't worry, Taslima" as an homage.

Her work has been adapted for TV and even turned into music. Jhumur was a 2006 TV serial based on a story written especially for the show.[73] Bengali singers like Fakir Alamgir, Samina Nabi, Rakhi Sen sang her songs.[citation needed] Steve Lacy, the jazz soprano saxophonist, met Nasrin in 1996 and collaborated with her on an adaptation of her poetry to music. The result, a "controversial" and "compelling" work called The Cry, was performed in Europe and North America.[74] Initially, Nasrin was to recite during the performance, but these recitations were dropped after the 1996 Berlin world première because of security concerns.[75]

Writers and intellectuals for and against Nasrin

edit

Nasrin has been criticized by writers and intellectuals in both Bangladesh and West Bengal for targeted scandalisation. Because of "obnoxious, false and ludicrous" comments in Ka, "written with the 'intention to injure the reputation of the plaintiff'", Syed Shamsul Haq, Bangladeshi poet and novelist, filed a defamation suit against Nasrin in 2003. In the book, she mentions that Haq confessed to her that he had a relationship with his sister-in-law.[76] A West Bengali poet, Hasmat Jalal, did the same; his suit led to the High Court banning the book, which was published in India as Dwikhondito.[77] Nearly 4 million dollars were claimed in defamation lawsuits against her after the book was published. The West Bengal Government, supposedly pressured by 24 literary intellectuals, decided to ban Nasrin's book in 2003.[78] Some commented that she did it to earn fame. She defended herself against the allegations, responding that she had written her life's story, not those of others.[79] She enjoyed support from Bengali writers and intellectuals like Annada Shankar Ray, Sibnarayan Ray and Amlan Dutta.[80]

Recently she was supported and defended by author Mahasweta Devi, poet Joy Goswami, and artist Paritosh Sen.[81] In India, noted writers Arundhati Roy, Girish Karnad, and others defended her when she was under house arrest in Delhi in 2007, and co-signed a statement calling on the Indian government to grant her permanent residency in India or, should she ask for it, citizenship.[82] In Bangladesh, writer and philosopher Kabir Chowdhury also supported her strongly.[83]

Controversy

edit

When Sri Lanka banned the burqa in 2019, Nasrin took to Twitter to show her support for the decision. She described the burqa as a 'mobile prison,' a comment which was reported on by journalists.[84]

In a 2019 tweet, she stated on Twitter that "Men and women who have bad genes with genetic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer etc should not produce children. They have no right to make others suffer."[85] Some commentators cited this as support for eugenics.[86] Nasrin has denied this, stating that she is not a supporter of eugenics, and that her comment was not serious, and had been taken out of context.[87][88]

Other activities

edit

Awards

edit

Taslima Nasrin has received international awards in recognition of her contribution towards the cause of freedom of expression. Awards and honors conferred on her include the following:

Bibliography

edit

Poetry

edit
  • Shikore Bipul Khudha (Hunger in the Roots), 1982
  • Nirbashito Bahire Ontore (Banished Without and Within), 1989
  • Amar Kichu Jay Ashe Ne (I Couldn't Care Less), 1990
  • Atole Ontorin (Captive in the Abyss), 1991
  • Balikar Gollachut (Game of the Girls), 1992
  • Behula Eka Bhashiyechilo Bhela (Behula Floated the Raft Alone), 1993
  • Ay Kosto Jhepe, Jibon Debo Mepe (Pain Come Roaring Down, I'll Measure Out My Life for You), 1994
  • Nirbashito Narir Kobita (Poems From Exile), 1996
  • Jolpodyo (Waterlilies), 2000
  • Khali Khali Lage (Feeling Empty), 2004
  • Kicchukhan Thako (Stay for a While), 2005
  • Bhalobaso? Cchai baso (It's your love! or a heap of trash!), 2007
  • Bondini (Prisoner), 2008
  • Golpo (stories), 2018

Essay collections

edit
  • Nirbachito Column (Selected Columns), 1990
  • Jabo na keno? jabo (I will go; why won't I?), 1991
  • Noshto meyer noshto goddo (Fallen prose of a fallen girl), 1992
  • ChoTo choTo dukkho kotha (Tale of trivial sorrows), 1994
  • Narir Kono Desh Nei (Women have no country), 2007
  • Nishiddho (Forbidden), 2014
  • Taslima Nasreener Godyo Podyo (Taslima Nasreen's prose and poetry), 2015
  • Amar protibader bhasha (Language of my protest), 2016
  • Sakal Griho Haralo Jar (A poet who lost everything), 2017
  • Bhabnaguli (My thoughts), 2018
  • Bhinnomot (Different opinions), 2019

Novels

edit
  • Oporpokkho (The Opponent), 1992.
  • Shodh, 1992. ISBN 978-81-88575-05-3. Trans. in English as Getting Even.
  • Nimontron (Invitation), 1993.
  • Phera (Return), 1993.
  • Lajja, 1993. ISBN 978-0-14-024051-1. Trans. in English as Shame.
  • Bhromor Koio Gia (Tell Him The Secret), 1994.
  • Forashi Premik (French Lover), 2002.
  • Brahmaputrer pare (At the bank of Brahmaputra river), 2013
  • Beshorom (Shameless), 2019

Short stories

edit
  • Dukkhoboty Meye (Sad girls), 1994
  • Minu, 2007

Autobiography

edit
  • Amar Meyebela (My girlhood), 1997
  • Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), 2002
  • Ka (Speak Up), 2003; published in West Bengal as Dwikhandito (Split-up in Two), 2003
  • Sei Sob Andhokar (Those Dark Days), 2004
  • Ami Bhalo Nei, Tumi Bhalo Theko Priyo Desh ("I am not okay, but you stay well my beloved homeland"), 2006.
  • Nei, Kichu Nei (Nothing is there), 2010
  • Nirbasan (Exile), 2012

Titles in English

edit

Secondary works

edit

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Alternatively spelled as Nasreen

References

edit
  1. ^ "Taslima Nasreen". The Lancet. 363 (9426): 2094. June 2004. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16477-5. S2CID 54309583.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh bans new Taslima book". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  3. ^ "Bangladesh bans third Taslima book". BBC News. 27 August 2002. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  4. ^ "Split printer on strikeback path - Signature drive to protest Taslima book ban, high court suit in mind". The Telegraph. Kolkota. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Mahasweta Devi Slams Bengal Govt for Banishing Taslima". Outlook.
  6. ^ Parthsarathi, Mona (3 February 2014). "Facing bans, Taslima Nasreen says no hope of returning to Kolkata". DNA India. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  7. ^ Bagchi, Suvojit (21 March 2015). "'Don't call me Muslim, I am an atheist'". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Why are Hindus trying to prove that they can become ISIS-like extremists: Taslima Nasreen". ThePrint. 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Taslima Nasrin's Life in Exile". 25 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Taslima Nasreen's long-term visa extended by just 2 months". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin opens up on her Delhi connect". Hindustan Times. 29 October 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  12. ^ Devarajan, Arthi (Spring 1998). "Taslima Nasrin". Postcolonial Studies. Emory University. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Nasrin, Taslima – Postcolonial Studies". scholarblogs.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d Targett, Simon (24 February 1995). "She who makes holy men fume". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  15. ^ Nasreen, Taslima (12 November 1999). "For freedom of expression". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  16. ^ O'Connor, Ashling (30 November 2007). "Feminist author rewrites novel after death threats from Muslim extremists". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  17. ^ "Bangladesh: A group called the Sahaba Soldiers; the goals and activities of the group; treatment of those who hold progressive religious and social views by the Sahaba Soldier members (1990–2003)". United Nations High Commission for Refugees. 29 July 2003. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  18. ^ "Nasrin Sahak, Taslima: Bangladeshi author". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  19. ^ Walsh, James (15 August 1994). "Death To the Author". Time. Archived from the original on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  20. ^ "Bangladeshi author and doctor Taslima Nasreen threatened by Islamic fundamentalists". Fileroom. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  21. ^ a b Richards, David (25 July 1998). "Home is where they hate you". The Nation. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  22. ^ Dam, Marcus (26 November 2007). "Kolkata is my home". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  23. ^ Bhaumik, Subir (27 June 2006). "Cleric quizzed over author threat". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  24. ^ "Imam issues fatwa against Taslima". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  25. ^ "Fatwa to blacken Taslima's face". Hindustan Times. 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Conventions light up July 4 weekend". India Abroad. 15 July 2005. With over 12,000 attendees ... the 2005 North American Bengali Conference ... held over the July 4 weekend ... at Madison Square Garden ... writer Taslima Nasrin was unrelenting in her assessment of US foreign policy ... 'Everybody started booing' ... her speech, which ended with an aborted attempt to recite her poem America.
  27. ^ "Indian Muslim Body Offers Reward for Killing a Female Journalist". Assyrian International News Agency. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  28. ^ "MLA vows to 'behead' Taslima Nasreen". IBN Live. 11 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  29. ^ "MIM vows to implement 'fatwa' against Taslima". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 11 August 2007. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  30. ^ "Hyderabad police lodge case against Taslima Nasreen". rediff. 11 August 2007. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  31. ^ "Three MLAs arrested for attack on Taslima Nasreen". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  32. ^ "Taslima Nasreen attacked in Hyderabad during book launch". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  33. ^ "MIM activists rough up Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad". DNA. 9 August 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  34. ^ "Taslima roughed up in Hyderabad". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 August 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  35. ^ "Target Taslima: No room for critics in Islam?". CNN-IBN. 10 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  36. ^ Hossain, Rakeeb (18 August 2007). "Fatwa offers unlimited money to kill Taslima". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  37. ^ "Army deployed after Calcutta riot". BBC News. 21 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  38. ^ a b "Taslima Nasreen: Controversy's child". BBC News. 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  39. ^ Ramesh, Randeep (27 November 2007). "Bangladeshi writer goes into hiding". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  40. ^ "Shunned writer Taslima Nasreen arrives in Indian capital". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  41. ^ Bhaumik, Subir (22 November 2007). "Calcutta calm after day of riots". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  42. ^ Vij-Aurora, Bhavna (8 December 2007). "Bad hair days, short of colour: Taslima misses beauty regime and machher jhol in 'house arrest'". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  43. ^ "Top French honour for Taslima Nasreen". Hindustan Times. 14 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  44. ^ "Taslima won't travel to France to collect award". India Today. Indo-Asian News Service. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  45. ^ "Taslima wants freedom in India". New Age. 19 February 2008. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  46. ^ "'Freedom' in hospital, for three nights". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  47. ^ "Amnesty help on Taslima sought". The Statesman. 1 February 2008. Confinement of Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen in a supposedly safe house ... India's former foreign secretary Mr Muchkund Dubey in a personal letter to Ms Irene Khan, chairperson of London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International, has urged her to exert pressure on the Government of India, so that the Bangladeshi author's current predicament gets over and she becomes able to get back to her home in Kolkata.
  48. ^ a b "Bangladeshi Writer Taslima Nasrin Speaks from Hiding: 'Condemned to Life as an Outsider'". The Guardian. London. 30 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  49. ^ Bhattacharya, Kajari (21 January 2008). "I've lost all creative freedom: Taslima". The Statesman. As she lives in an undisclosed location in New Delhi, writer Taslima Nasreen ... In an exclusive e-mail interview she gave to The Statesman, the controversial writer said she is unable to concentrate on her writing ... She also indicated that she had deleted passages from her controversial book Dwikhandito under mental pressure ... The writer said she had no idea when she would find release from what she called this unendurable loneliness, this uncertainty and this deathly silence ... The Bangladeshi writer cancelled the publication of the sixth part of her autobiography Nei Kichu Nei (There is Nothing) ... because she said she was unable to meet the deadline.
  50. ^ "A memory of home". Ibnlive.in.com. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  51. ^ "Writer Taslima pledges body to Indian NGO". 7 March 2005. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  52. ^ "Taslima Nasreen's Indian visa extended by a year". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  53. ^ "Amid Death Threats from Islamists, CFI Brings Secular Activist Taslima Nasrin to Safety in U.S." Center for Inquiry. June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  54. ^ "Taslima Nasrin Moved to US Following Death Threats in India". VOA News. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  55. ^ "Taslima on God's narcissism". Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  56. ^ "Times Higher Education interview". Timeshighereducation.co.uk. 24 February 1995. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  57. ^ "Statement on Taslima Nasreen's departure from India". Mainstream. 7 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  58. ^ "Taslima Nasrin: Taslima Nasrin makes a cameo, pledges support for civil code | Jaipur News - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  59. ^ "India urgently needs uniform civil law, says Taslima Nasrin". 23 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  60. ^ David, Rohit E. (5 May 2017). "Triple talaq is despicable ... All India Muslim Personal Law Board should be abolished for the sake of Muslims". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  61. ^ "A new, invisible Partition is happening in India between Hindus and Muslims". ThePrint. August 2018. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  62. ^ a b "Radicals in Bangladesh Want Writer Put to Death". The State. 25 September 1993. p. 4A.
  63. ^ Ahmed, Anis (31 October 1993). "Bangladesh Author Has Bounty on Her Head". Chicago Tribune. p. 11.
  64. ^ Ahmed, Kamal (13 August 1999). "Bangladesh bans new Taslima book". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  65. ^ "Bangladesh bans third Taslima book". BBC News. 27 August 2002. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  66. ^ "Bengal bans Taslima's book". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 28 November 2003. Archived from the original on 4 December 2003. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  67. ^ Joshua, Anita (18 February 2004). "West Bengal Government assailed for banning Taslima's book". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 March 2004. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  68. ^ Dhar, Sujoy (2005). "Arts Weekly/Books: Split By Leftists and Fanatics". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on 25 May 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  69. ^ "Court lifts ban on Nasreen's book in Bengal". Rediff.com. 23 September 2005. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  70. ^ "Exiled Taslima Nasrin to return to Bangladesh". Indian Muslims. 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  71. ^ "New book banned at behest of Islamic bigots: Taslima". Press Trust of India. 20 February 2004. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  72. ^ "The Goddess in You Taslima mp3s, The Goddess in You Taslima music downloads, The Goddess in You Taslima songs from eMusic.com". 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  73. ^ "Rebel with a cause: Screen On & Off". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 27 April 2006. Archived from the original on 20 May 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  74. ^ Huotari, Allen (May 1999). "Steve Lacy: The Cry". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  75. ^ Shoemaker, Bill (December 1997). "Steve Lacy: Making the Words Swing". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  76. ^ "Syed Shamsul Huq files Tk 10 cr defamation suit against Taslima". The Independent. 10 November 2003. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  77. ^ Habib, Haroon; Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay (19 December 2003). "A Shocker from Taslima: Taslima Nasreen's New Book Causes a Furore in the Literary Circles of Dhaka and Kolkata" (PDF). Frontline. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  78. ^ "Fishing for trouble". Hinduonnet.com. 5 February 2004. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  79. ^ "homeless everywhere" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  80. ^ "Taslima's visit to India". International Humanist and Ethical Union. 28 October 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  81. ^ Dhiman Chattopadhyay (5 December 2003). "Literati rise late to Taslima defence". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  82. ^ "Intellectuals Demand Indian Citizenship To Taslima Nasreen". Mainstream. 24 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  83. ^ "Prof Kabir Chawdhury". Secularvoiceofbangladesh.org. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  84. ^ "Taslima Nasreen Calls 'Burqa Ban' A Good Decision After Sri Lanka Bans All Face Coverings". indiatimes.com. 30 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  85. ^ Nasreen, Taslima [@taslimanasreen] (18 June 2019). "Men and women who have bad genes with genetic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer etc should not produce children. They have no right to make others suffer" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  86. ^ Shaikh, Sumaiya (23 June 2019). "Taslima Nasreen's views echo eugenicists who favour genetic cleansing for racial supremacy". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  87. ^ Nasreen, Taslima [@taslimanasreen] (20 June 2019). "It was not really a serious tweet. Next tweet was about my love for food, that i can't have the food i love because of some hereditary diseases. More than 12.4 k hatred i have received so far. Isn't it too much? I've learned though to be more humane" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  88. ^ Nasreen, Taslima [@taslimanasreen] (21 June 2019). "No i don't believe in eugenics. It's so absurd! 4 decades of my struggle for women's equal rights, human rights, secular humanism & free speech can't be gone with the wind because of a sarcastic tweet. It is so easy to misunderstand me! Wish i knew better english" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  89. ^ Emeritus Board Archived 2 June 2024 at the Wayback Machine Reporters Without Borders (RWB).
  90. ^ "Peoplesbooksociety - People's book society". peoplesbooksociety.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  91. ^ "1988-1998|Laureates|Sakharov Prize". sakharovprize. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  92. ^ "RFI - Exiled writer Taslima Nasreen awarded Simone de Beauvoir prize". Radio France Internationale. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  93. ^ "1994 – Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme". Cncdh.fr. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  94. ^ "Taslima - l'Humanite". 5 November 2007. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  95. ^ "Eleanor Smeal Announces 1994 Feminist of the Year Awards". Hartford-hwp.com. 3 January 1995. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  96. ^ "Scholarship holders / Alumni: Taslima Nasrin". Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
  97. ^ International Humanist and Ethical Union (3 March 2006). "IHEU awards | International Humanist and Ethical Union". Iheu.org. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  98. ^ "Festivity of the Erwin Fischer Award 2002 to Ms. Taslima Nasrin | International League of Non-religious and Atheists". IBKA. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  99. ^ "Freethought Heroine Award". 2 October 2006. Archived from the original on 2 October 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  100. ^ "Carr Center for Human Rights Policy". Hks.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  101. ^ "UNESCO Taslima Nasrin, winner of the 2004 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence". UNESCO. 14 October 2004. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  102. ^ "Viewpoint - Taslima Nasrin, Winner of the 2004 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". UNESCO.
  103. ^ Banerjee, Sudeshna (30 April 2005). "Bitter, Taslima stays afloat". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  104. ^ "CREP - Prix condorcet-Aron 2005". 28 September 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  105. ^ "Le Groupe Femmes, Politique et Démocratie reçoit le prestigieux 'Prix Condorcet-Aron' du Centre de recherche et d'étude politique de Belgique". 22 September 2005. Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  106. ^ "Official Home Page of Taslima Nasrin". Taslimanasrin.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  107. ^ Hogan, Ron (23 October 2009). "Feminist Press Celebrates 39th Anniversary – GalleyCat". Mediabistro.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  108. ^ "Discours du Professeur Nathalie Delzenne". Universite Catholique de Louvain (in French). Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  109. ^ "Ville d'Esch-sur-Alzette". Ville d'Esch-sur-Alzette. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  110. ^ "Autour de Taslima Nasreen". Ville de Metz. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015.
  111. ^ "Autour de Taslima Nasreen". Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  112. ^ "Les cérémonies - Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7". univ-paris-diderot.fr.
  113. ^ amiando. "Programme/Program Journée Internationale "Citoyenneté universelle et liberté mondiale de circulation et d'installation des personnes" Paris". amiando. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  114. ^ "In the meantime." Taslima Nasrin's Blog. 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  115. ^ "Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
edit