Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin returns to Kolkata after nearly two decades

Exiled Bangladeshi writer and activist Taslima Nasrin returned to Kolkata on Friday, marking her first public visit to the city in almost two decades. She arrived at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and expressed happiness at being back in the city she once called home.

Speaking after landing, Nasrin said, “I am really liking it here.”

The visit is significant because it is her first appearance in Kolkata since 2007, when widespread protests over her memoir Dwikhondito forced her to leave the city.

Nasreen had moved to Kolkata after leaving Bangladesh in the 1990s. However, controversy surrounding Dwikhondito led to strong protests, and the then Left Front government in West Bengal asked her to leave the state.

The memoir had been banned by the then CPI(M)-led government in 2003 after allegations that it had hurt religious sentiments.

The 63-year-old author currently lives in Delhi under a long-term residence permit.

Before her visit, Nasrin described her return as an emotional milestone and said she had never willingly left Kolkata.

Reflecting on her departure, she said, “I never left Kolkata willingly; the then West Bengal government forced me to leave the state. Yet I never stopped hoping that one day I would return. Year after year passed, governments changed, and still the door remained closed.”

She referred to the visit as a “personal homecoming”, saying she had always hoped to return to the city despite years of separation.

Nasreen is scheduled to attend a programme at Rabindra Sadan on Saturday focused on protesting fundamentalism. The event is expected to be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and noted Bengali author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay.