14 November 2016

Exiled writer Nasreen fears for Bangladesh’s future

Having herself been the subject of fatwas and forced into exile by fundamentalist critics of her writing, Taslima Nasreen despairs at the wave of assassinations of secular bloggers in her native Bangladesh.

“You know Islamisation started in Bangladesh in the 1980s and in the 80s I was very worried,” recalls the prize-winning poet and novelist in an interview with AFP in New Delhi.

“I wrote about Islamic fundamentalists. I said that they should not go unopposed or they will destroy our society, that’s exactly what’s happened now.”

It’s 22 years since Nasreen last set foot in Bangladesh, having been forced to flee in fear of her life after tens of thousands of Islamists took to the streets to denounce her writing. [Malay Mail Online] Read more