Exiled B
File photo of Taslima Nasreen - PTIangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen accuses Sunil Gangopadhyay of molesting her and other women.
Tasliman Nasreen, the controversial Bangladeshi author, has finally revealed the name of the “fat and intelligent” man who had molested her in her youth. In her three books—two memoirs and a poetry—written in last ten years, Taslima had talked about a “fatty, famous and influential” person from Kolkata who had outraged her modesty.
The suspense got over on September 3, when she tweeted that it was the legendary Bengali author and president of Sahitya Academy Sunil Gangopadhyay who molested her years back taking advantage of her “innocence”. “My previous four tweets are only to prove that Sunil G is now lying in the media that he did not support the banning of Dhwikandito,” she tweeted.
Though she did not mention that the character she wrote about in her book is Gangopadhyay, she told the-week.com: “Yes, it was Sunil Gangopadhyay about whom I wrote in my three books. I never mentioned his name anywhere earlier. But, anyone could guess who the person—famous, fat and influential—is.” Taslima said it was a traumatic experience.
An embarrassed Gangopadhyay rubbished the allegation, and said he was not attaching any importance to it.
“I am surprised why she kept mum all these years,” Gangopadhyay said. Chances are less that he would take her to court.
The muck throwing, however, was not intended. It was just a statement of Gangopadhyay which sparked off the controversy and forced Taslima to respond. On September 3, Gangopadhyay had criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for banning a book written by senior IPS officer of Bengal cadre Nazrul Islam, in which the author suggested some ‘dos and don'ts' for Muslims. Islam said Muslims had some responsibilities to perform to remain in society and, the book had many such suggestions.
Mamata's critics, however, found that the ban was part of Didi's appeasement drive to retain her muslim voters, which she got after Nandigram and Singur movements.
Despite the fact Islam was known to be a prominent anti-Left face in the Bengal administration—he was transferred several times during Left rule for speaking his mind—Mamata banned his book in a bid to maintain communal harmony of the state.
Gangopadhyay, who always tried to portray himself as a promoter of freedom of speech and expression, came down heavily on the Mamata government and criticised her for banning the book.
“It's same as throttling freedom of speech and expression of common citizens. I am totally against it though I am not in favour of hurting any religious sentiment,” Gangopadhyay said.
After Gangopadhyay's media statement, Taslima tweeted, “Sunil Gangopadhyay is for book banning. He sexually harassed me and many other women. He is the president of Sahitya Academy. Shame! Shame!”
When contacted by the-week.com to know the purpose of her raising such a controversial issue now, Taslima said, “I cannot stand lies. I am not taking up the issue now. I was tweeting against book banning and found Sunil Gangopadhyay lying about it. He said he was against banning the book. But, he was the man behind the banning of my book Dwikhandita in 2003.”
When asked why she was talking on behalf of many other women, who never raised such allegation against Gangopadhyay, Taslima said, “I am not talking on behalf of anyone. I am simply telling the truth. I know Sunilda for more than 25 years. His lying to the media made me react. He took the initiative to ban my book. If he did not lie, I would not have said anything. He was not for my free speech. He also insisted me to leave West Bengal when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was desperate to throw me out of the state in 2007,” she added. She revealed to the-week.com that Gangopadhyay himself phoned her and asked her to leave West Bengal.
“Political parties used me for their own interest. But why should a writer support the ban on another writer's book? Why should a writer ask a fellow writer to leave the state only to please a political party instead of defending freedom of expression?” she asked.
It is well-known in Bengal political circles that Gangopadhyay was very close to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Both of them shared a common interest—books. After the Left Front banned Taslima's book, the Calcutta High Court asked government to withdraw the ban.
However, the blame game over book banning got murkier when Taslima turned her gun on one of the most eminent authors in Bengali literature by calling him a molester.
When asked why she used the opportunity to shell Gangopadhyay, Taslima said, “Yes, I shared my painful experience of being sexually molested by Sunil Gangopadhyay. But, you people ask why now, not then. As if I don't share my painful experience within a certain time, I should be disqualified. I don't say anything or write anything to please anyone. If I am the person who try to please political parties I would not have been thrown out of Bangladesh and West Bengal.”
She further took on the people who criticised her for raising the issue of molestation after all these years. “I tell the truth. The liars, opportunists and hypocrites who never know what it means to take risk of life to tell the truth and pay high price for it and living a life in exile forever, will say all the bullshit. I don't care,” she said.
Taslima also rubbished the allegation that she was raising all these to draw attention. “I tell only the truth. People who don't like to hear the truth create controversy.”
File photo of Taslima Nasreen - PTIangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen accuses Sunil Gangopadhyay of molesting her and other women.
Tasliman Nasreen, the controversial Bangladeshi author, has finally revealed the name of the “fat and intelligent” man who had molested her in her youth. In her three books—two memoirs and a poetry—written in last ten years, Taslima had talked about a “fatty, famous and influential” person from Kolkata who had outraged her modesty.
The suspense got over on September 3, when she tweeted that it was the legendary Bengali author and president of Sahitya Academy Sunil Gangopadhyay who molested her years back taking advantage of her “innocence”. “My previous four tweets are only to prove that Sunil G is now lying in the media that he did not support the banning of Dhwikandito,” she tweeted.
Though she did not mention that the character she wrote about in her book is Gangopadhyay, she told the-week.com: “Yes, it was Sunil Gangopadhyay about whom I wrote in my three books. I never mentioned his name anywhere earlier. But, anyone could guess who the person—famous, fat and influential—is.” Taslima said it was a traumatic experience.
An embarrassed Gangopadhyay rubbished the allegation, and said he was not attaching any importance to it.
“I am surprised why she kept mum all these years,” Gangopadhyay said. Chances are less that he would take her to court.
The muck throwing, however, was not intended. It was just a statement of Gangopadhyay which sparked off the controversy and forced Taslima to respond. On September 3, Gangopadhyay had criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for banning a book written by senior IPS officer of Bengal cadre Nazrul Islam, in which the author suggested some ‘dos and don'ts' for Muslims. Islam said Muslims had some responsibilities to perform to remain in society and, the book had many such suggestions.
Mamata's critics, however, found that the ban was part of Didi's appeasement drive to retain her muslim voters, which she got after Nandigram and Singur movements.
Despite the fact Islam was known to be a prominent anti-Left face in the Bengal administration—he was transferred several times during Left rule for speaking his mind—Mamata banned his book in a bid to maintain communal harmony of the state.
Gangopadhyay, who always tried to portray himself as a promoter of freedom of speech and expression, came down heavily on the Mamata government and criticised her for banning the book.
“It's same as throttling freedom of speech and expression of common citizens. I am totally against it though I am not in favour of hurting any religious sentiment,” Gangopadhyay said.
After Gangopadhyay's media statement, Taslima tweeted, “Sunil Gangopadhyay is for book banning. He sexually harassed me and many other women. He is the president of Sahitya Academy. Shame! Shame!”
When contacted by the-week.com to know the purpose of her raising such a controversial issue now, Taslima said, “I cannot stand lies. I am not taking up the issue now. I was tweeting against book banning and found Sunil Gangopadhyay lying about it. He said he was against banning the book. But, he was the man behind the banning of my book Dwikhandita in 2003.”
When asked why she was talking on behalf of many other women, who never raised such allegation against Gangopadhyay, Taslima said, “I am not talking on behalf of anyone. I am simply telling the truth. I know Sunilda for more than 25 years. His lying to the media made me react. He took the initiative to ban my book. If he did not lie, I would not have said anything. He was not for my free speech. He also insisted me to leave West Bengal when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was desperate to throw me out of the state in 2007,” she added. She revealed to the-week.com that Gangopadhyay himself phoned her and asked her to leave West Bengal.
“Political parties used me for their own interest. But why should a writer support the ban on another writer's book? Why should a writer ask a fellow writer to leave the state only to please a political party instead of defending freedom of expression?” she asked.
It is well-known in Bengal political circles that Gangopadhyay was very close to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Both of them shared a common interest—books. After the Left Front banned Taslima's book, the Calcutta High Court asked government to withdraw the ban.
However, the blame game over book banning got murkier when Taslima turned her gun on one of the most eminent authors in Bengali literature by calling him a molester.
When asked why she used the opportunity to shell Gangopadhyay, Taslima said, “Yes, I shared my painful experience of being sexually molested by Sunil Gangopadhyay. But, you people ask why now, not then. As if I don't share my painful experience within a certain time, I should be disqualified. I don't say anything or write anything to please anyone. If I am the person who try to please political parties I would not have been thrown out of Bangladesh and West Bengal.”
She further took on the people who criticised her for raising the issue of molestation after all these years. “I tell the truth. The liars, opportunists and hypocrites who never know what it means to take risk of life to tell the truth and pay high price for it and living a life in exile forever, will say all the bullshit. I don't care,” she said.
Taslima also rubbished the allegation that she was raising all these to draw attention. “I tell only the truth. People who don't like to hear the truth create controversy.”
