NEW DELHI: Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Sunday criticised the ban on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party, calling it a “move against democracy” and expressing uncertainty over Hasina’s return to the country.“No political party should be banned. The manner in which Sheikh Hasina was forced to leave the country is questionable. It was not right to ban the Awami League. It was a move against democracy. I want the ban to be lifted as soon as possible,” Nasreen told reporters at a press conference in Kolkata.Sheikh Hasina has been living in Delhi since August 5, 2024, after resigning as prime minister following weeks of student-led protests. The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which took charge after the fall of the Awami League administration, banned the party in May 2025 under anti-terrorism laws.Meanwhile, Nasreen alleged that several Awami League workers had been tortured and killed during Sheikh Hasina’s exile and expressed uncertainty over whether the former prime minister would be able to return to Bangladesh.“Many Awami League workers were tortured and murdered. Sheikh Hasina wants to return, but I do not know whether that will be possible. But no one wants me to go back,” she said.Nasreen also criticised Jamaat-e-Islami, now Bangladesh’s principal opposition party, accusing it of opposing women’s equality and seeking the imposition of Sharia law.“Now we have Jamaat-e-Islami as an opposition party. It is against women’s equality, and they want Sharia rule. If that happens, no minority will survive. Bangladesh is moving towards darkness. No one is trying to civilise Bangladesh. The government is only trying to remain in power,” she added.The 63-year-old author further claimed that “hatred against Hindus” was being spread in some madrasas and mosques in Bangladesh.“In many madrasas and mosques, hatred is being taught against Hindus,” Nasreen remarked.
Nasreen backs Uniform Civil Code , calls it necessary for women’s equality
Turning to the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Nasreen said she had been advocating for such a law for the past 40 years and described it as essential in any “civilised country”.“I have been fighting for the UCC for the past 40 years. This is much needed in any civilised country,” she remarked.She claimed that religious laws continued to affect women’s rights in Bangladesh, alleging that Hindu women in the country lacked adequate legal protections, including the right to divorce.“In Bangladesh, Hindu girls have no rights; they do not even have the right to divorce. Due to religious laws, women are suffering. Hindus are being tortured in Bangladesh. During the Yunus regime, Hindus were tortured even more,” she alleged.In July, the BJP-led West Bengal government constituted a nine-member expert committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai to examine and finalise a draft UCC for the state. The state government plans to introduce the legislation during the upcoming August Assembly session.
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Nasreen, who has lived in exile since 1994, when she was forced to leave Bangladesh due to the threat from Islamic radicals over her work, returned to Kolkata nearly two decades. She was forced to leave the city in 2007 following protests over her writings and memoir Dwikhandito (Split into Two), published in 2003.(With ANI inputs)
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