Taslima Nasreen Says Returning to Kolkata After 19 Years Feels Like Coming Home

PTI, July 30, 2026, Kolkata: Nearly two decades after she was forced to leave Kolkata following protests over her controversial book Dwikhondito, exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Thursday said returning to the city for her first public appearance felt like coming back to "my own country".

Nasreen expressed hope that the visit would reaffirm the importance of freedom of expression and protection of dissenting voices.

The author is scheduled to take part in a programme here on August 1, which is also likely to be attended by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and renowned author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay.

This will be Nasreen's first public appearance in Kolkata since 2007, when protests against her memoir forced her to leave the city she had made her home after fleeing Bangladesh a decade earlier.

Nasreen's book Dwikhandito (Split in Two) was banned by the West Bengal government in 2003 for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Nasreen said Kolkata was not merely a place where she lived but a city that gave her a sense of belonging, and that the years away had not weakened her connection with West Bengal.

"I feel as though I am returning to my own country. Bengal has never been divided in my heart by a border or a barbed-wire fence. The door to the eastern part of Bengal remains closed to me, so for now, this part of Bengal is my home," she said.

Nasreen said she never left Kolkata willingly and continued to hope that she would return one day.

"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."

Describing her return as more than a personal homecoming, she said it represented a larger struggle for a writer's right to speak freely.

"So, to return nearly 19 years later and speak publicly in the heart of Kolkata feels almost unreal. To me, it represents the return of a voice that fundamentalists once tried to silence. My presence on that stage will affirm that threats and fatwas may exile a writer for a time, but they cannot erase her ideas," Nasreen said.

The author said she viewed the invitation to return as an encouraging sign and expressed gratitude to the organisers and the government for facilitating her visit.

"I certainly see my return as an encouraging sign. I am grateful to the organisers who made it possible and to the government for providing security. I deeply appreciate CM Adhikari's willingness to respect and protect the freedom of a dissenting writer, even when he may not agree with everything she says," Nasreen said.