Who failed her, the literary circle or the state machineryIJ Nasrin talks to ANANYA BORGOHAIN about her childhood, beliefs, and literary journey

When writer and physician Taslima Nasrin’s lajja was banned in 1994, she had to flee her homeland, Bangladesh, and seek asylum in Kolkata and Delhi, but later relocated to the United States as allegedly radical Islamists intimidated her; amidst a fatwa and price on her head. In fact in 2015, Al Qaeda-linked extremists threatened her with death. She is now a full-time author based in New Delhi. In a conversation about her recently released memoir, Exile, Nasrin talks about her childhood, the literary fraternity, and the state machinery. 

Where did your spirit of dissent and rebellion come fromIJ

I wasn’t rebellious as a child. I was, in fact, much calm and composed. However, I was always disappointed by the inequality I saw around me. I have written about it in my childhood memoir, Girlhood, as well. I did not accept many established notions. For instance, I questioned reading the Quran in Arabic. I wasn’t satisfied with my mother’s answer that one shouldn’t question it and just read the holy book and be happy. But I wondered if God was almighty, then couldn’t he understand if I prayed in Bangla instead of reading the Quran in Arabic!

I noticed that my mother did not get equal opportunities. My father, on the other hand, was domineering but he was secular and an atheist. He never prayed. He encouraged me to educate myself and be independent, financially and socially. Back then in Bangladesh, girls were married off when they were 15 or 16. My father was a doctor and I completed my MBBS from his college too.

Is it difficult being an atheistIJ Believers, when things go wrong, put the blame on God, unlike atheists who seek to intellectualise circumstances. Does questioning also exhaust you at timesIJ

I don’t think believers put the blame on God. Their vision has been clouded. They accept their inequality, injustice and exploitation assuming that is God’s plan for them. They try to be happy with nothing. Religion has been used as a tool to keep them poor, so that the powerful can retain their authority.

You have been privy to the literary circuit in the West as well. You have interacted with the likes of Allan Ginsberg, Gunter Grass, and so on. How do those conversations differ from that of the writers in IndiaIJ

I have seen hypocrisy and jealousy in writers. If a writer becomes famous, others, though not everyone, tend to be jealous of him or her. That is not the case in the West. Probably that comes from a sense of equality in their society. In Bangladesh, it’s a different case. A book should not get banned in a democracy. And it should be all writers’ prerogative to not let that happen to someone from their fraternity. But that did not happen in my case.

You are disappointed with the failed operations of democracy. Is that why you are also against the two-nation theoryIJ

No country should be based on religion. Pakistan is a failed state today because they let religious faith to determine their political and social life. Governments indulge fundamentalists and misogynists and that is a major setback for our growth. I say the same for Bangladesh. The Constitution should not be Islamised. Having said that, I have deep respect for India and there has never been a coup here. Although I am a Bangladeshi, I have always felt at home here.

The frequent and brutal murders of secular Bangladeshi bloggers reiterate that.

Yes. Islamisation started in Bangladesh in the 1980s. When my book was banned in 1994 and I was subsequently exiled, there were signs of how fanatical the country was becoming.

Who do you think failed you — the literary circle or the state machineryIJ

There is the quintessential male ego here. Generally, men are considered writers here and women are like ‘sex objects’. There are men who respect women; I am not calling everyone misogynistic but it’s not an equal society for all writers here. But I am more disappointed with the Government. It’s the state’s responsibility to protect its citizens and ensure they are treated equally. Instead, they have monopolised the literary circuit. When the CPI was in power in Bengal, the State’s writers mostly gravitated towards the left Front. Now, they lean towards the TMC.

You mention a letter Benazir Bhutto had written to you and joke that the difference between Bhutto and you is that unlike her, you divorced the evil from your life. Does humour come to your rescue as a defence mechanism when you recount the low phases of your lifeIJ

I guess; I laugh all the time! I may have said that about Benazir’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, because he does not come across as an ideal man. There are constant allegations of his corruption and other mishandlings.

Which authors do you followIJ

I want to say Gloria Steinem but then I run the risk of being misinterpreted as a militant feminist! But yes, I am also very fond of Robin Morgan. She is an American writer and political activist.

Who do you think supported you throughout your journeyIJ

It was the ordinary people. My readers were my biggest supporters.

Exile does not follow traditional patterns of a memoir. It does not start from your childhood and moves in a linear fashion. It’s distributed into sections that publish letters, poems and excerpts from your personal diary.

Yes, it isn’t an autobiography. We’ve seven such books and intend to publish at least five of them. It’s more like a seven-part memoir.

Given the circumstances you have been through, when were you the happiestIJ

Whenever I am in the company of like-minded people. Well-spoken, rational, feminist people.

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