Taslima Nasrin’s Exile To Homecoming: A Journalist’s Account Of Author’s Return To Kolkata

Published 2 August 2026 · local

Taslima Nasrin’s Exile To Homecoming: A Journalist’s Account Of Author’s Return To Kolkata Written By, Last Updated: August 02, 2026, 12:28 IST The tears I

Taslima Nasrin’s Exile To Homecoming: A Journalist’s Account Of Author’s Return To Kolkata Written By, Last Updated: August 02, 2026, 12:28 IST The tears I saw at Rabindra Sadan were not simply those of an author returning to a city. They represented the end of a journey that had begun with fear, uncertainty and exile Rapid Read Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, in Kolkata, West Bengal, on Friday. (PTI) There are stories a journalist covers. And then there are stories that become part of a journalist’s own life. For me, Taslima Nasrin’s return to Kolkata on August 1, 2026 was one such story. As I sat in the third row of Rabindra Sadan, watching the exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin walk onto the stage, I realised I was witnessing the closing of a chapter that had begun 19 years earlier. I could see the tears in her eyes. They were not merely tears of joy. They reflected pain, memory, loss and, above all, the feeling of returning home. For most people in the auditorium, it was a cultural event. For me, it was history coming full circle. Nineteen years ago, I was a young reporter with a national television channel. I had covered one of the darkest days in Kolkata’s recent history—the day Taslima Nasrin was forced to leave the city. That assignment has stayed with me ever since. THE DAY KOLKATA BURNED On 22 November 2007, I was returning from Berhampore after covering a programme on Nandigram. Near Amdanga in North 24 Parganas, traffic came to a standstill. I asked my video journalist to find out what had happened. Within minutes, around 10 men surrounded our vehicle. They demanded that we cover their protest against Nasrin. They warned us that if we refused, they would set our car on fire.

It was one of the most frightening moments of my early career. We tried to explain that we were journalists and were already on assignment, but they refused to listen. For several tense minutes, it appeared that our vehicle could be attacked. Somehow, we managed to leave safely. As we entered Kolkata, the city was in turmoil. Vehicles had been set ablaze. Police personnel had been injured. Roads were deserted except for security forces and protesters. For the first time in my reporting career, I saw the Army deployed to assist the civil administration in restoring order. The protests were centred on Taslima Nasrin’s book Dwikhandita. The book had earlier been banned by the state government but had subsequently been cleared by the courts. Yet the agitation continued. As reporters, we spent the entire day moving from one flashpoint to another, documenting a city consumed by violence. THE STORY BEHIND THE HEADLINES While we were reporting on the streets, conversations with official and political sources suggested that the government was considering its next course of action regarding Nasrin. Like many young reporters, I believed the administration would protect a writer whose safety had become a matter of public concern. Instead, multiple sources told us that efforts were underway to persuade her to leave Kolkata. According to those sources, pressure came through various intermediaries, including individuals from business and intellectual circles associated with the then ruling establishment. Those accounts shaped our understanding of events as they unfolded, even as many aspects remained outside public view. THE MORNING SHE WAS GONE The violence continued late into the night. Many of us stayed back in our newsroom because travelling through the city was unsafe. Before sunrise the next morning, news broke that Taslima Nasrin had left Kolkata. We rushed to her apartment on Rowdon Street. She was already gone.