Taslima Nasrin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Taslima Nasrin
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| তসলিমা নাসরিন | |
| Born | 25 August 1962 |
| Education | Mymensingh Medical College |
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| Years active | 1973–present |
| Movement | Women's Equality, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, Atheist, Scientism, Tolerance |
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Taslima Nasrin (born on August 25, 1962) is a brave writer, doctor, and activist from Bangladesh. She is known for writing about how women are treated unfairly and for sharing her thoughts on religion. Because of her strong opinions, some of her books are not allowed in Bangladesh. She has also been asked to leave the Bengal region, which includes Bangladesh and parts of India.
She became famous around the world in the early 1990s. This was because of her essays and novels that supported women's rights and questioned religions she felt were unfair to women. Since 1994, Taslima Nasrin has had to live away from her home country. This is called living in exile. Some religious leaders have even called for her death. After living in Europe and the United States for over ten years, she moved to India in 2004. She has been living there with a special permit ever since.
Early Life and Education
Taslima Nasrin was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Her father, Dr. Rajab Ali, was a doctor and a professor. She went to Mymensingh Medical College and became a doctor in 1984. While in college, she wrote and edited a poetry magazine called Shenjuti. After becoming a doctor, she worked in family planning and in hospitals.
Taslima was born into a Muslim family. However, as she grew up, she became an atheist. This means she does not believe in a god. As she started writing, she focused on ideas that support women's rights. This is called a feminist approach.
Becoming a Writer
When Taslima Nasrin first started writing, she mostly wrote poems. Between 1982 and 1993, she published several poetry books. These poems often talked about the struggles women faced. She began writing prose, like essays and novels, in the late 1980s.
One of her most famous novels is Lajja (which means "Shame"). It tells the story of a Hindu family in Bangladesh who faced attacks from religious extremists. They decided to leave their home country.
Because of her writings, which questioned some religious ideas and demanded equal rights for women, Taslima Nasrin faced many challenges. She was sometimes physically attacked. Many people protested, demanding that she be punished. In 1993, a religious group even offered money to anyone who would kill her.
In 1994, she was interviewed by a newspaper. The newspaper said she called for changes to the Quran, a holy book in Islam. She says she only called for changes to Sharia, which are Islamic laws. These laws sometimes treat women differently. Because of the strong reactions and threats, she went into hiding. Later in 1994, she had to leave Bangladesh and move to Sweden. After that, she stopped working as a doctor and became a full-time writer and activist.
Life Away from Home
After leaving Bangladesh in 1994, Taslima Nasrin lived in different countries like Sweden, Germany, France, and the United States for ten years. Her Bangladeshi passport was taken away. The Swedish government gave her citizenship, and she found safety in Germany.
She wrote a book about her early life called Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood in 1998. She was never able to get a Bangladeshi passport to go back and visit her parents, who have both passed away.
Living in Kolkata, India (2004–2007)
In 2004, India gave her a special permit to live there, and she moved to Kolkata. Kolkata is in West Bengal, India, and shares a language and culture with Bangladesh. She loved Kolkata and called it her home. The Indian government kept extending her visa so she could stay.
While in Kolkata, Taslima Nasrin wrote for Indian newspapers and magazines. She often wrote about her ideas for a Uniform civil code in India. This is a set of laws that would apply to everyone, no matter their religion, especially in matters like marriage and family. She also spoke out against practices like Triple talaq, which allows a Muslim man to divorce his wife instantly. She believed these practices were unfair to women.
Again, her writings led to strong reactions from some religious groups.
Leaving Kolkata
On August 9, 2007, Taslima Nasrin was in Hyderabad, India, for a book event. She was attacked by a group of people. A week later, Muslim leaders in Kolkata renewed an old religious order against her, telling her to leave the country. They even offered unlimited money to anyone who would kill her.
On November 21, 2007, a large protest against Nasrin happened in Kolkata. It caused a lot of trouble in the city, and the army had to step in to restore peace. After these events, Taslima Nasrin was forced to leave Kolkata. She moved to Jaipur and then to New Delhi.
The Indian government kept her in a secret location in New Delhi. She was basically under house arrest for over seven months. In January 2008, she was chosen for the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for her writings on women's rights. However, she decided not to go to Paris to receive the award. She said she wanted to stay in India and fight for her freedom there.
From New Delhi, she said she was writing a lot, but not about Islam. She felt a lot of stress from being alone and uncertain. She even had to cancel the publication of one part of her autobiography and remove some parts from another book called Dwikhandito. This book had caused the protests in Kolkata. She was forced to leave India on March 19, 2008.
Taslima Nasrin moved to Sweden in 2008 and later worked at New York University. She felt that her heart was still in India. She eventually returned to India, but she had to stay in New Delhi because the government of West Bengal would not let her enter Kolkata.
In 2015, she received death threats from extremist groups. Because of these threats, an organization called the Center for Inquiry helped her travel to the United States, where she lives now.
Her Books and Writings
Taslima Nasrin started writing poems when she was thirteen years old. While in college, she published a literary magazine. Her first collection of poems came out in 1986. She became more widely known when she started writing newspaper columns in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, she began writing novels, which became very popular.
She has written over thirty books, including poetry, essays, novels, short stories, and memoirs. Her books have been translated into 20 different languages. Her writing often explores two main ideas: her thoughts on her native culture's religion and her strong belief in women's rights. She looks up to writers like Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir.
Newspaper Columns and Essays
In 1989, Nasrin started writing for a political magazine. Her feminist views and comments about religion got a lot of attention. She surprised many people in Bangladesh with her bold ideas. Later, she collected these writings in a book called Nirbachita Column. In 1992, this book won her the Ananda Purashkar, a famous award for Bengali writers.
Novels
In 1992, Nasrin wrote two short novels that did not get much attention.
Her most famous novel, Lajja (Shame), was published in 1993. It became very popular because of its sensitive topic. The book tells the story of a Hindu family in Bangladesh facing difficulties in a Muslim community. It quickly sold many copies before the government banned it the same year.
Another well-known novel by her is French Lover, published in 2002.
Autobiographies
Taslima Nasrin has written several books about her own life, called autobiographies.
- Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood, 2002) was the first part of her life story. The Bangladeshi government banned it in 1999 because of what they called "reckless comments" about Islam.
- Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), the second part, was banned in 2002.
- Ka (Speak up), the third part, was banned by the Bangladeshi High Court in 2003. This book was published in West Bengal as Dwikhandita. It was also banned there after some Muslim activists protested. The ban was lifted in 2005.
- Sei Sob Ondhokar (Those Dark Days), the fourth part, was banned in 2004.
So far, seven parts of her autobiography have been published. She received her second Ananda Purashkar award in 2000 for Amar Meyebela.
Her Life in Art and Music
Taslima Nasrin's life has inspired many plays and songs around the world. A Swedish singer named Magoria sang "Goddess in you, Taslima." The French band Zebda created a song called "Don't worry, Taslima" to honor her.
Her writings have also been made into TV shows and music. Jhumur was a 2006 TV show based on a story she wrote. Bengali singers have sung her poems. Steve Lacy, a jazz musician, worked with her in 1996 to turn her poetry into music. Their work, called The Cry, was performed in Europe and North America. Taslima was supposed to read her poems during the performances, but this was stopped due to safety concerns.
Support and Criticism
Taslima Nasrin has faced criticism from some writers and thinkers in Bangladesh and West Bengal. They accused her of writing things that harmed people's reputations. For example, a Bangladeshi poet sued her in 2003 for comments in her book Ka. Another poet in West Bengal also sued her, which led to her book Dwikhondito being banned. Some people said she wrote these things just to become famous. She defended herself, saying she was just writing her own life story.
However, many writers and thinkers have supported her. In India, famous authors like Arundhati Roy and Girish Karnad defended her when she was under house arrest in Delhi in 2007. They asked the Indian government to let her stay in India permanently. In Bangladesh, writer and philosopher Kabir Chowdhury also strongly supported her.
Awards and Honors
Taslima Nasrin has received many international awards for her brave work in supporting freedom of speech. Some of her awards include:
- Ananda Award from West Bengal, India, in 1992 and 2000.
- Sakharov Prize for freedom of thoughts from the European Parliament, in 1994.
- Human Rights Award from the Government of France, 1994.
- Kurt Tucholsky Prize from Swedish PEN, Sweden, 1994.
- Feminist of the Year from Feminist Majority Foundation, US, 1994.
- Honorary Doctorate from Ghent University, Belgium, 1995.
- Distinguished Humanist Award from International Humanist and Ethical Union, Great Britain, 1996.
- Erwin Fischer Award from International League of non-religious and atheists, Germany, 2002.
- Freethought Heroine Award from Freedom From Religion Foundation, US, 2002.
- UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for promoting tolerance and non-violence, 2004.
- Simone de Beauvoir Prize in 2008.
- Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, US, 2009.
- Honorary doctorate from Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, 2011.
- Honorary citizenship from Esch, Luxembourg, 2011.
- Honorary citizenship from Metz, France, 2011.
- Honorary citizenship from Thionville, France, 2011.
- Honorary doctorate from Paris Diderot University, Paris, France, 2011.
- Academy Award from the Royal Academy of Arts, Science and Literature, Belgium, 2013.
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Taslima Nasrin's signature
