Controversial author Taslima Nasrin has strongly come down on Indian authors for not standing by her side when her books were banned and fatwas were issued against her but now returning their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest.
Many writers are guilty of double standards when it comes to dissent.
— Taslima Nasrin.
In an interview to The Times of India, she continued that she had to fight her way alone and “not only were they silent, [but] famous writers like Sunil Ganguly and Shankha Ghosh appealed to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the then CM of West Bengal, to ban my book.”
Nasrin’s books have always been the target of fundamentalists and extremists. Five fatwas were issued against her, her TV serial was banned and she was put under house arrest in Delhi after she was asked to leave West Bengal.
Nasrin elaborated on her view that secularism is a misunderstood concept in India by saying:
Most secular people are pro-Muslims and anti-Hindu. They protest against the acts of Hindu fundamentalists and defend the heinous acts of Muslim fundamentalists.
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