Author Taslima Nasreen accuses West Bengal of cancelling play based on her book ‘Lajja’
The police told the organisers of two theatre festivals in the state that the performance could provoke communal riots, the Bangladeshi writer claimed.
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Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Monday alleged that the West Bengal government had forced the organisers of two theatre festivals not to stage a play based on her novel Lajja.
Published in 1993, Lajja described the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition the year prior. The book caused an uproar in Bangladesh, forcing Nasreen to flee the country and live in exile in Europe and North America for ten years. The author has been living in India since 2004 on a long-term multiple-entry visa.
In a social media post on Monday, Nasreen alleged that the West Bengal Police pressured the organisers of the Gobardanga Natyoutsav in North 24 Parganas district and the Pandua Natyoutsav in Hooghly to remove performances of the play from their schedule.
The police told the organisers that the play could provoke communal riots, claimed Nasreen.
“While the schedule of the play had been announced two months back, all of a sudden the police prevailed upon the organisers to omit ‘Lajja’ from the list,” she wrote. “Let me remind you, a theatre group had staged the same play three times in Delhi before a packed auditorium.”
Nasreen added: “I was forced to leave West Bengal with the apprehension that my presence would provoke fundamentalists to...
