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While talking about a similar pattern between Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan and Muhammad Yunus, the current head of the interim government of Bangladesh, Taslima drew a surprising parallel
The award -winning exiled author of Bangladesh Taslima Nasrin. (Image through x/@taslimanasrene)
Exile has a strange form of leveling power and authority. In a classic instance of a silence, both yearn to return to their homeland, Bangladesh. One, Taslima Nasrin, was exiled by the Bangladesh government three decades ago. The other, Sheikh Hasina, the expelled prime minister of Bangladesh, joined his destiny three decades later. Both now live in Delhi. But only one had the power to banish the other and used it.
In an exclusive interview with News18 while visiting Odisha, Taslima Nasrin reflects on this disturbing symmetry and the possibility of “poetic justice.” “Hasina and I live in the same city now,” he said. “I have heard Shear sometimes go for a walk. I wonder, if I ever meet her in and around the garden of Lodhi or elsewhere, what would he say? Taslima said outside the Puri 2025 literary festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Government of Odisha.
Taslima was exiled twice by two consecutive governments: first by Khaleda Zia’s in 1994 and again by Sheikh Hasina in 1999, and Herssport was never renewed.
Exile like ‘leveling’
For Taslima, it is not a rhetorical question. In 1994, it was qualified as a “threat” to write against religious fundamentalism, misogyny and social hypocrisy, and the government forced her to leave the country. In 1999, when he entered his country to visit his sick mother, the government of Sheikh Hasina accused her of “blasphemy” once again for denouncing fanaticism and its explicit content about the patriarchal society. Hasina repeated what her predecessor did. Taslima’s books were prohibited by the Government, first under the regime of Khaleda Zia in 1994 and later in 1999 under Hasina.
The clergy declared multiple fatwas against her, and she faced death threats. Multiple cases were presented against it, and the Hasina government imposed conditions for their bail to be granted. He was asked to leave the country.
The State, Bajo Hasina, prohibited his return and never renewed his passport. “They didn’t expel me,” he said. “They made sure I had no land to stop. I was persecuted to tell the truth.”
And yet, when Hasina was expelled in August 2024 and fled to India in the middle of the emergence of the interim regime led by Muhammad Yunus, Taslima did not rejoice. Instead, he condemned the brutal attacks on the workers of the Awami League and minority communities, especially Hindus, throughout the country. He also spoke when an artist distorted Hasina’s image.
“Tell that I have never fought against people: if it fought against an ideology. Through my trade, my literature, I spoke against fans, misogynists and the people who discriminate. I am standing where I have always done it, and that is, aggravos, against, against, against injustice,” Taslima said.
History is repeated in western costumes
While talking about a similar pattern between Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first Governor General of Pakistan, and Muhammad Yunus, the current head of the interim government (as the main advisor), she repressed a few surprising parallels to the voice.
“Both were educated in the West: Jinnah in London, Yunus in the United States. Both seemed separated from religious orthodoxy in their previous lives. But when the power was at stake, they both surrendered to the same toxational. Controlled.” He said.
For Taslima, the pattern has been painful and disturbingly familiar: minority orientation, dissenting and normalization of fear. “You always dress differently: costumes, titles, educated speeches, but the result seems to be the same,” he added. Now, while Sheikh Hasina sails his own exile, echoes are difficult to ignore. “People change. Power fades. But the consequences of injustice last,” said the author. However, in spite of everything, the intrepid Taslima Nasrin remains the same: sharp, challenging and rooted in his truth.
- Location:
Puri, India, India