1. Taslima Nasrin was born on 25 August 1962 and is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist and activist.
39 Facts About Taslima Nasrin
1. 2.
Taslima Nasrin is known for her writings on the oppression of women and criticism of Islam; some of her books are banned in Bangladesh.
3.
Taslima Nasrin has been blacklisted and banished from the Bengal region, both from Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.
4.
Taslima Nasrin gained global attention by the beginning of 1990s owing to her essays and novels with feminist views and criticism of what she characterizes as all "misogynistic" religions.
5.
Taslima Nasrin is the daughter of Dr Rajab Ali and Edul Ara, of Mymensingh.
6.
Taslima Nasrin's father was a physician, and a professor of Medical Jurisprudence in Mymensingh Medical College, at Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College.
7.
Early in her literary career, Taslima Nasrin wrote mainly poetry, and published half a dozen collections of poetry between 1982 and 1993, often with female oppression as a theme, and often containing very graphic language.
8.
Taslima Nasrin suffered a number of physical and other attacks for her critical scrutiny of Islam and her demand for women's equality.
9.
Taslima Nasrin allegedly had to wait for six years to get a visa to visit India.
10.
Taslima Nasrin never got a Bangladeshi passport to return to the country to visit her parents, now both deceased.
11.
In 2007, elected and serving members of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen made threats against Taslima Nasrin Nasreen, pledging that the fatwa against her and Salman Rushdie were to be abided by.
12.
On 9 August 2007, Taslima Nasrin was in Hyderabad to present the Telugu translation of one of her novels, Shodh, when she was allegedly attacked by a mob, led by legislators from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an Indian political party.
13.
Taslima Nasrin explained that "I don't want to leave India at this stage and would rather fight for my freedom here," but she had to be hospitalised for three days with several complaints.
14.
Taslima Nasrin was forced to leave India on 19 March 2008.
15.
Taslima Nasrin moved to Sweden in 2008 and later worked as a research scholar at New York University.
16.
Taslima Nasrin eventually returned to India, but was forced to stay in New Delhi as the West Bengal government refused to permit her entry.
17.
In 2015 Taslima Nasrin was threatened with death by Al Qaeda-linked extremists, and so the Center for Inquiry assisted her in travelling to the United States, where she now lives.
18.
Taslima Nasrin published her first collection of poems in 1986.
19.
Taslima Nasrin succeeded in attracting a wider readership when she started writing columns in late 1980s, and, in the early 1990s, she began writing novels, for which she has won significant acclaim.
20.
Taslima Nasrin's writing is characterised by two connected elements: her struggle with the religion of her native culture, and her feminist philosophy.
21.
Taslima Nasrin cites Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir as influences, and, when pushed to think of one closer to home, Begum Rokeya, who lived during the time of undivided Bengal.
22.
In 1989 Taslima Nasrin began to contribute to the weekly political magazine Khaborer Kagoj, edited by Nayeemul Islam Khan, and published from Dhaka.
23.
Taslima Nasrin has always advocated for an Indian Uniform civil code, and said that criticism of Islam is the only way to establish secularism in Islamic countries.
24.
Taslima Nasrin said that Triple talaq is despicable and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board should be abolished.
25.
Taslima Nasrin used to write articles for online media venture The Print in India.
26.
In 1992 Taslima Nasrin produced two novellas which failed to draw attention.
27.
Taslima Nasrin received her second Ananda Purashkar award in 2000, for her memoir Amar Meyebela.
28.
Taslima Nasrin's life is the subject of a number of plays and songs, in the east and the west.
29.
Taslima Nasrin's work has been adapted for TV and even turned into music.
30.
Taslima Nasrin's critics included Asif Nazrul who called her a "mentally unstable person" for making such a comparison.
31.
When Sri Lanka banned the burqa in 2019, Taslima Nasrin took to Twitter to show her support for the decision.
32.
Taslima Nasrin described the burqa as a 'mobile prison,' a comment which was reported on by journalists.
33.
Taslima Nasrin has denied this, stating that she is not a supporter of eugenics, and that her comment was not serious, and had been taken out of context.
34.
Taslima Nasrin faced significant criticism because of this tweet including Moeen's teammates Jofra Archer, Sam Billings and Saqib Mahmood.
35.
In 2024, Taslima Nasrin faced significant backlash after asserting that Mahfuj Alam was the leader of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in a Facebook status despite not having any concrete evidence of it.
36.
Taslima Nasrin has been criticized by writers and intellectuals in both Bangladesh and West Bengal for targeted scandalisation.
37.
Taslima Nasrin defended herself against the allegations, responding that she had written her life's story, not those of others.
38.
Taslima Nasrin enjoyed support from Bengali writers and intellectuals like Annada Shankar Ray, Sibnarayan Ray and Amlan Dutta.
39.
Taslima Nasrin has received international awards in recognition of her contribution towards the cause of freedom of expression.