Chennai: Taslima Nasreen, the Bangladeshi author and poet who is in exile for decades, spoke to The Hindu, in the The Hindu Lit for Life festival.
She said that, freedom of expression is essential in democracy, and in Bangladesh, a democratic country, she is being denied that right. She is being living in exile for 24 years and her book ‘Lajja’ is also banned.
According to the news reported in The Hindu, speaking to Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor, Taslima Nasreen said that “everybody had the right to offend others.” She further said that one’s speech must not be intended to incite violence or promote attacks on others.
She said that, her encounter with religious texts in childhood made her atheist and she began to believe that only science can answer the questions to all the truly observed phenomena.
She added that the conflict was not between various religions but between “secularism and fundamentalism… the rational illogical mind and the irrational minefield… innovation and tradition and between the people who value freedom and who do not.”