Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is keen on ‘safe return’ of former Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen to Kolkata.
Talking at the Parliament during zero hour, BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Bengal Shamik Bhattacharya said that Taslima wants to come back to Kolkata.
“During widespread protests she had to leave Kolkata in 2007 due to her literary works. Now she wants to come back to Kolkata and start writing in Bengali,” said Bhattacharya.
The BJP MPA also mentioned that Nasreen’s iconic book ‘Lajja’, which features the atrocities faced by a Hindu family in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, and it also criticized CPI (M) who were in power in Bengal when the Bangladeshi writer had to leave Bangladesh.
Notably, over several years, the Bangladeshi writer had expressed her interest in returning to Kolkata but successive West Bengal governments citing security issues didn’t allow her to return to Kolkata.
“An untoward incident orchestrated by a Congress leader compelled her to leave Kolkata. I am thankful to the Congress leadership that they have expelled that person. But after his expulsion, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had accepted him and had also sent him to the Parliament,” further mentioned the BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
TMC MP Kalyan Bandhopadhyay dubbed Shamik Bhattacharya’s comment as ‘divisive’ politics.
“Where were the BJP when Nasreen was leaving Kolkata. Why didn’t they speak then? Now they are playing divisive politics over Hindu-Muslim,” said Bandhopadhyay.
