Death threats, moving houses: Taslima Nasrin completes 25 years of exile abroad

NEW DELHI: Renowned Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin celebrates completing 25 years of living in exile abroad.

The 'French Lover' author took to Twitter to share her excitement on Tuesday. She wrote, "25 years. Yes, 25 years. Today. Completed 25 years of my exile life".



The 'Lajja' (shame) depicts the persecution of a Hindu family by Muslims during the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. After being published in 1993, the 56-year-old writer started receiving repeated threats from radical Muslim groups. Nasrin fled her country and adopted Swedish citizenship after the death threats increased.

The book was banned in Bangladesh. However, right before the ban, the novel sold around 50,000 copies in six months. The novel that was originally published in Bengali, was translated to international languages like English, Dutch, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Swedish, among other. It was also translated to Indian languages like Hindi, Oriya, Marathi, Telugu, Assamese, Punjabi, Kannada, Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, etc.

The continuous threats didn't stop the author from writing against Islamic philosophy. She also lived in the US and Europe for many years. Between 2004 and 2007, Nasrin also lived in Kolkata after the Islamic groups demanded her to leave the country. She made New Delhi her home since 2011.

On many occasions, Nasrin has expressed her desire for permanent Indian citizenship. She has been living in the country on an Indian visa granted to her since 2004.

The exiled Bangladeshi author is a strong advocate of women's rights, freedom of thought and human rights.

Apart from being a writer, Nasrin is also a physician, having studied medicine in her early years in Bangladesh.