Kolkata, Nov 28: Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen today expressed 'shock and dismay' over West Bengal's decision to proscribe her book 'Dwikhandita' saying her earlier work 'Aamar Meyebela' was far more anti-Islamic in content but it had not created even a ripple in the state. "I don't know why they chose to proscribe 'Dwikandita' (split into two) on the ground that it could disturb communal harmony. In my personal opinion, 'Aamar Meyebela' (my girlhood) was far more anti-Islamic than this one. Why didn't they ban it?" she told a news agency over phone from her New York residence. The novelist, who has been in exile ever since the Bangladesh government issued a 'Fatwa' on her debut publication 'Lajja' in 1994, said she had been an ideologically 'anti-fundamentalist' writer and would continue to be so in her forthcoming works. "That I am anti-Islamic is not a revelation. In all my syndicated columns and books, I have made no secret of this belief ... Why is this mild book irking the West Bengal government this time?" she asked.


Nasreen, who made a hotel in this metropolis her home for quite a while last year to pen 'Utal Hawa', said a lot of people had told her that Kolkata and Dhaka were ideologically the same. "But I had refused to believe them since for me West Bengal represented the citadel of democracy. Today I know they were right ... What else do you say about a place which strangulates your freedom of expression," Nasreen said.


Bureau Reprot