Kolkata, Sept. 9 -- Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin is likely to be a special guest at the Kolkata Book Fair and plans to be in the city from January 22 to February 3. The Bangladesh stall, however, may be absent this year.
Nasrin, who was barred from Kolkata under the Left Front and TMC governments, was allowed to return by the BJP government on July 31 after over 18 years. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari felicitated her at Rabindra Sadan on August 1. Taslima told Millennium Post from Delhi: "Some officials invited me, and I shall be very happy to be at the Kolkata Book Fair. I missed its flavour since 2008, as I was forced out in November 2007. "
"Without Bengali books, my existence is at stake," she said, adding that she plans to attend book-reading sessions, visit stalls and interact with readers at the fair. Nasrin said she has been barred from entering Bangladesh for over 32 years. "Governments have changed, but the stance remains the same," she said, recalling that she was forced to leave Bangladesh in 1994. She now holds a Swedish passport.
Nasrin plans to visit different parts of Kolkata, including the Calcutta High Court, which had granted her relief by lifting the ban on her book 'Dwikhondito'. She recalled attending the hearings and sitting in the last row of the courtroom. The defence counsel was Dipankar Datta, now a Supreme Court judge.
Taslima said she would be in Kolkata for a few days to attend an award ceremony at Mahajati Sadan on October 8. "I will recite some of my poems," she said. This year, the book fair authority plans to make Israel the theme country, committee convenor Prasenjit Bakshi said.
"The theme of the book fair is Vande Mataram," he added.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.