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`Aamar Meyebela` far anti-Islamic than `Dwikhandita`: Nasreen
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.
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
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