Editing Taslima Nasrin (section)

===2004–2007, life in Kolkata===
{{See also|2007 Kolkata riots}}
In 2004, she was granted a renewable temporary residential permit by India and moved to Kolkata in the state of [[West Bengal]], which shares a common heritage and language with Bangladesh, In an interview in 2007, after she had been forced to flee, she called Kolkata her home.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dam |first=Marcus |title=Kolkata is my home |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=26 November 2007 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/26/stories/2007112650020100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201105515/http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/26/stories/2007112650020100.htm |archive-date=1 December 2007 |access-date=30 May 2009 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> The government of India extended her [[Visa (document)|visa]] to stay in the country on a periodic basis, though it refused to grant her [[Indian citizenship]]. While living in Kolkata, Nasrin regularly contributed to Indian newspapers and magazines, including ''[[Anandabazar Patrika]]'' and ''[[Desh magazine|Desh]]'', and, for some time, wrote a weekly column in the Bengali version of ''The Statesman''.

Again, her criticism of Islam was met with opposition from religious fundamentalists: in June 2006, Syed Noorur Rehaman Barkati, the [[imam]] of Kolkata's [[Tipu Sultan Mosque]], admitted offering money to anyone who "blackened [that is, publicly humiliated] Ms Nasreen's face."<ref>{{cite news |last=Bhaumik |first=Subir |title=Cleric quizzed over author threat |work=BBC News |date=27 June 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5121548.stm |access-date=1 June 2009 |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916233543/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5121548.stm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Imam-issues-fatwa-against-Taslima/articleshow/1679206.cms |title=Imam issues fatwa against Taslima |work=The Times of India |access-date=11 January 2018 |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602134539/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Imam-issues-fatwa-against-Taslima/articleshow/1679206.cms |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/nm12/fatwa-to-blacken-taslima-s-face/article1-113625.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227054347/http://www.hindustantimes.com/nm12/fatwa-to-blacken-taslima-s-face/article1-113625.aspx |archive-date=27 February 2015 |title=Fatwa to blacken Taslima's face |work=Hindustan Times |date=27 June 2006 |access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> Even abroad, controversy followed: on the [[Independence Day (United States)|US Independence Day]] weekend in 2005, she criticized US foreign policy and tried to read her poem titled "America" to a large Bengali crowd at the [[North American Bengali Conference]] at [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York City, but was booed off the stage.<ref>{{cite news |title=Conventions light up July 4 weekend |work=[[India Abroad]] |date=15 July 2005 |quote=With over 12,000 attendees ... the 2005 North American Bengali Conference ... held over the July 4 weekend ... at Madison Square Garden ... writer Taslima Nasrin was unrelenting in her assessment of US foreign policy ... 'Everybody started booing' ... her speech, which ended with an aborted attempt to recite her poem America.}}</ref> Back in India, the "All India Muslim Personal Board (Jadeed)" offered 500,000 [[rupees]] for her beheading in March 2007. The group's president, [[Tauqeer Raza Khan]], said the only way the bounty would be lifted was if Nasrin "apologizes, burns her books and leaves."<ref>{{cite news |title=Indian Muslim Body Offers Reward for Killing a Female Journalist |publisher=[[Assyrian International News Agency]] |date=17 March 2007 |url=http://www.aina.org/news/20070317150229.htm |access-date=1 June 2009}}</ref>

In 2007, elected and serving members of [[All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen]] made threats against Taslima Nasreen,<ref>{{cite news |title=MLA vows to 'behead' Taslima Nasreen |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mla-vows-to-behead-taslima-nasreen/46658-3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106073011/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mla-vows-to-behead-taslima-nasreen/46658-3.html |archive-date=6 January 2013 |access-date=12 November 2012 |newspaper=IBN Live |date=11 August 2007}}</ref> pledging that the ''[[fatwa]]'' against her and [[Salman Rushdie]] were to be upheld.<ref>{{cite news |title=MIM vows to implement 'fatwa' against Taslima |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/11/stories/2007081161781600.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828101103/http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/11/stories/2007081161781600.htm |archive-date=28 August 2007 |access-date=12 November 2012 |date=11 August 2007 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> While she was in Hyderabad releasing Telugu translations of her work, she was attacked by party members led by three MLAs- Mohammed Muqtada Khan, Mohammed Moazzam Khan and Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri - were then charged and arrested.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hyderabad police lodge case against Taslima Nasreen |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/aug/11taslima.htm |access-date=12 November 2012 |newspaper=rediff |date=11 August 2007 |archive-date=24 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124014546/http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/aug/11taslima.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/aug/09nasreen.htm |title=Three MLAs arrested for attack on Taslima Nasreen |work=Rediff.com |access-date=7 August 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026110245/https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/aug/09nasreen.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Taslima-Nasreen-attacked-in-Hyderabad-during-book-launch/articleshow/2267996.cms |title=Taslima Nasreen attacked in Hyderabad during book launch |work=The Times of India |access-date=18 July 2015 |archive-date=18 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018034851/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Taslima-Nasreen-attacked-in-Hyderabad-during-book-launch/articleshow/2267996.cms |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-mim-activists-rough-up-taslima-nasreen-in-hyderabad-1114508 |title=MIM activists rough up Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad |work=DNA |date=9 August 2007 |access-date=18 July 2015 |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602135054/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-mim-activists-rough-up-taslima-nasreen-in-hyderabad-1114508 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Expulsion from Kolkata====
On 9 August 2007, Nasrin was in [[Hyderabad]] to present the [[Telugu language|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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taslima roughed up in Hyderabad |date=10 August 2007 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/10/stories/2007081058910100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104020957/http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/10/stories/2007081058910100.htm |archive-date=4 November 2007 |access-date=31 May 2009 |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Target Taslima: No room for critics in Islam? |publisher=[[CNN-IBN]] |date=10 August 2007 |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/target-taslima-no-room-for-critics-in-islam/46563-3-single.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006220954/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/target-taslima-no-room-for-critics-in-islam/46563-3-single.html |archive-date=6 October 2012 |access-date=31 May 2009}}</ref> A week later, on 17 August, Muslim leaders in Kolkata revived an old fatwa against her, urging her to leave the country and offering an unlimited amount of money to anyone who would kill her.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hossain |first=Rakeeb |title=Fatwa offers unlimited money to kill Taslima |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=18 August 2007 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=5d562b17-64dc-4a90-8396-7cfcaea2d568&ParentID=ea13ac8f-a3d8-45a2-9eba-b56c9b73e87b&&Headline=Kolkata%27s+clerics+threaten+Taslima |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130110233838/http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=5d562b17-64dc-4a90-8396-7cfcaea2d568&ParentID=ea13ac8f-a3d8-45a2-9eba-b56c9b73e87b&&Headline=Kolkata's+clerics+threaten+Taslima |archive-date=10 January 2013 |access-date=31 May 2009}}</ref> On 21 November, Kolkata witnessed a protest against Nasrin. A protest organized by the "All India Minority Forum" caused chaos in the city and forced the army's deployment to restore order.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 November 2007 |title=Army deployed after Calcutta riot |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7105277.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=31 May 2009 |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602135053/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7105277.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> After the riots, Nasrin was forced to move from Kolkata, her "adopted city,"<ref name="controversy"/> to [[Jaipur]], and then to New Delhi the following day.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ramesh |first=Randeep |title=Bangladeshi writer goes into hiding |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 November 2007 |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2217704,00.html |access-date=31 May 2009 |location=London |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602135616/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/27/india.books |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="earthtimes">{{cite web |title=Shunned writer Taslima Nasreen arrives in Indian capital |agency=Deutsche Presse-Agentur |date=23 November 2007 |url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/146811.html |access-date=31 May 2009 |archive-date=10 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910154439/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/146811.html }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2013}}{{Failed verification|date=August 2013}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Bhaumik |first=Subir |title=Calcutta calm after day of riots |work=BBC News |date=22 November 2007 |url=http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7106897.stm |access-date=31 May 2009 |archive-date=25 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225191024/http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7106897.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The government of India kept Nasrin in an undisclosed location in New Delhi, effectively under house arrest, for more than seven months.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vij-Aurora |first=Bhavna |title=Bad hair days, short of colour: Taslima misses beauty regime and machher jhol in 'house arrest' |work=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]] |date=8 December 2007 |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071209/asp/frontpage/story_8647669.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211183159/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071209/asp/frontpage/story_8647669.asp |archive-date=11 December 2007 |access-date=31 May 2009 |location=Calcutta, India}}</ref> In January 2008, she was selected for the [[Simone de Beauvoir]] award in recognition of her writing on women's rights,<ref>{{cite news |title=Top French honour for Taslima Nasreen |work=Hindustan Times |date=14 January 2008 |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=33e08b94-5b71-4894-9072-2e1a1a8a927b |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070613013854/http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=33e08b94-5b71-4894-9072-2e1a1a8a927b |archive-date=13 June 2007 |access-date=31 May 2009}}</ref> but she declined to go to Paris to receive the award.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taslima won't travel to France to collect award |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Taslima+won%27t+travel+to+France+to+collect+award/1/3886.html |work=India Today |agency=Indo-Asian News Service |date=25 January 2008 |access-date=17 January 2016 |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602135617/https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/taslima-wont-travel-to-france-to-collect-award-22449-2008-01-25 |url-status=live }}</ref> She explained that "I don't want to leave India at this stage and would rather fight for my freedom here,"<ref>{{cite news |title=Taslima wants freedom in India |work=New Age |date=19 February 2008 |url=http://www.newagebd.com/2008/feb/19/front.html#11 |access-date=31 May 2009 |archive-date=13 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113103944/http://www.newagebd.com/2008/feb/19/front.html#11 }}</ref> but she had to be hospitalized for three days with several complaints.<ref>{{cite news |title='Freedom' in hospital, for three nights |work=The Telegraph |date=31 January 2008 |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080131/jsp/frontpage/story_8846277.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201034258/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080131/jsp/frontpage/story_8846277.jsp |archive-date=1 February 2008 |access-date=31 May 2009 |location=Calcutta, India}}</ref> The house arrest quickly acquired an international dimension: in a letter to the London-based human rights organization [[Amnesty International]], India's former foreign secretary [[Muchkund Dubey]] urged the organization to pressure the Indian government so that Nasrin could safely return to Kolkata.<ref>{{cite news |title=Amnesty help on Taslima sought |newspaper=The Statesman |date=1 February 2008 |quote="Confinement of Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen in a supposedly safe house ... India's former foreign secretary Mr Muchkund Dubey in a personal letter to Ms Irene Khan, chairperson of London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International, has urged her to exert pressure on the Government of India, so that the Bangladeshi author's current predicament gets over and she becomes able to get back to her home in Kolkata."}}</ref>

From New Delhi, Nasrin commented: "I'm writing a lot, but not about Islam, It's not my subject now. This is about politics. In the last three months I have been put under severe pressure to leave [West] Bengal by the police."<ref name="outsider">{{cite news |title=Bangladeshi Writer Taslima Nasrin Speaks from Hiding: 'Condemned to Life as an Outsider' |work=The Guardian |date=30 November 2007 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/nov/30/fiction |access-date=28 May 2009 |location=London |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602135617/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/nov/30/fiction |url-status=live }}</ref> In an email interview from the undisclosed safehouse, Nasrin talked about the stress caused by "this unendurable loneliness, this uncertainty and this deathly silence." She cancelled the publication of the sixth part of her autobiography ''Nei Kichu Nei'' ("No Entity"), and — under pressure — deleted some passages from ''[[Dwikhandito]]'', the controversial book that was the boost for the riots in Kolkata.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bhattacharya |first=Kajari |date=21 January 2008 |title=I've lost all creative freedom: Taslima |newspaper=The Statesman |quote=As she lives in an undisclosed location in New Delhi, writer Taslima Nasreen ... In an exclusive e-mail interview she gave to The Statesman, the controversial writer said she is unable to concentrate on her writing ... She also indicated that she had deleted passages from her controversial book Dwikhandito under mental pressure ... The writer said she had no idea when she would find release from what she called this unendurable loneliness, this uncertainty and this deathly silence ... The Bangladeshi writer cancelled the publication of the sixth part of her autobiography Nei Kichu Nei (There is Nothing) ... because she said she was unable to meet the deadline.}}</ref> She was forced to leave India on 19 March 2008.

Nasrin moved to Sweden in 2008 and later worked as a research scholar at [[New York University]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-has-denied-me-shelter-says-taslima-in-exile/81955-19.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113014744/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-has-denied-me-shelter-says-taslima-in-exile/81955-19.html |archive-date=13 January 2011 |title=A memory of home |publisher=Ibnlive.in.com |date=3 February 2010 |access-date=14 December 2010}}</ref> Since, as she claims, "her soul lived in India," she also pledged her body to the country, by awarding it for posthumous medical use to Gana Darpan, a Kolkata-based NGO, in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |title=Writer Taslima pledges body to Indian NGO |date=7 March 2005 |url=http://news.indiainfo.com/2005/03/07/0703taslima.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906231522/http://news.indiainfo.com/2005/03/07/0703taslima.html |archive-date=6 September 2008 |access-date=30 May 2009}}</ref> She eventually returned to India, but was forced to stay in New Delhi as the West Bengal government refused to permit her entry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buddhadeb threw me out, now he's losing, Taslima tweets |url=https://www.ndtv.com/assembly/buddhadeb-threw-me-out-now-hes-losing-taslima-tweets-455738 |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=www.ndtv.com |language=en}}</ref> Currently, her visa received a one-year extension in 2016 and Nasreen is also seeking permanent residency in India but no decision has been taken on it by the Home Ministry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taslima Nasreen's Indian visa extended by a year |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/taslima-nasreens-indian-visa-extended-by-a-year/articleshow/59249791.cms |work=The Times of India |access-date=21 June 2017 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225170034/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/taslima-nasreens-indian-visa-extended-by-a-year/articleshow/59249791.cms |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2015 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.<ref name="centerforinquiry1">{{cite web |url=http://www.centerforinquiry.net/newsroom/amid_death_threats_from_islamists_cfi_brings_secular_activist_taslima_nasri/ |title=Amid Death Threats from Islamists, CFI Brings Secular Activist Taslima Nasrin to Safety in U.S. |publisher=Center for Inquiry |date=June 2015 |access-date=1 June 2015 |archive-date=2 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602035237/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/newsroom/amid_death_threats_from_islamists_cfi_brings_secular_activist_taslima_nasri/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Center for Inquiry (CFI) that helped evacuate her to the U.S. on 27 May gave an official statement in June 2015 stating that her safety "is only temporary if she cannot remain in the U.S., however, which is why CFI has established an emergency fund to help with food, housing, and the means for her to be safely settled".<ref>{{cite news |title=Taslima Nasrin Moved to US Following Death Threats in India |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/taslima-nasrin-moved-to-us-following-death-threats-in-india/2806843.html |work=VOA News |access-date=5 June 2015 |archive-date=11 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811020357/http://www.voanews.com/content/taslima-nasrin-moved-to-us-following-death-threats-in-india/2806843.html |url-status=live }}</ref>