Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Sunday drew parallels between the recent protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Delhi and the student-led movement that led to the ouster of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024, saying people should learn from what followed in her home country.
Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata, a day after her felicitation ceremony was briefly disrupted, Nasreen said the events in Bangladesh should serve as a warning.
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“I felt what is happening here is similar to what happened in Bangladesh during the July student movement. People were fooled. The result in Bangladesh has not been good. Jihadis have taken over power there,” she said.
Bangladesh witnessed months of student-led protests in 2024 over a controversial job quota system. The demonstrations soon turned into a wider anti-government movement that culminated in Sheikh Hasina leaving the country after weeks of violence. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus later took charge of an interim government. Since then, Bangladesh has seen political uncertainty, while minority groups, including Hindus, have repeatedly raised concerns over attacks on their community.
Nasreen claimed the condition of Hindus had worsened under the interim government.
“Hindus faced torture during the Hasina government too, but there are more atrocities under the Yunus government,” she alleged, attributing the situation to a lack of education and the growing influence of religious institutions.
Calling for secular reforms, Nasreen said religion should be kept separate from the state. She criticised the madrasa education system, alleging that it promoted communal thinking, and said Bangladesh should instead focus on secular education.
She also reiterated her support for a Uniform Civil Code, saying there should be “one law for everyone” in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan to ensure equal rights, particularly for women.
Nasreen also expressed support for jailed Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, saying she and several others had protested against his imprisonment.
Asked about the opposition in Bangladesh, she said it would have been better if the Awami League had remained the principal opposition instead of Jamaat-e-Islami. She opposed any move to ban the Awami League and said former prime minister Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to return to Bangladesh despite her criticism of some of the former government’s policies.
The author also spoke about the disruption during her felicitation at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan on Saturday, where noted Bengali poet Joy Goswami was prevented from addressing the audience after protests from a section of those present.
“I felt bad. It was not only Joy Goswami’s humiliation but also mine because I had invited him. Political ideologies can differ, but everyone has the right to express their views,” she said, adding that she planned to visit the poet at his residence.
On the political response she has received over the years, Nasreen said, “One government barred me, one government expelled me, and one government invited me,” in an apparent reference to the Left Front, the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
She also thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for assuring her security during her visit to Kolkata.
Expressing hope for better ties between India and Bangladesh, Nasreen said India had played a key role in Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971 and that relations between the two neighbours should remain friendly.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
