Mahasweta Devi seeks Taslima’s return to city

“It is a shame the way she was treated by the state government. She writes in Bengali,she is a Bengali and her readers are Bengali and she was driven out of the state,” Mahasweta Devi said.

She added that in spite of the fact that the state was known all over as the one place where people can protest and still live in peace,the state government’s anti-people stand had portrayed Bengal in a bad light.

The author said: “Let people decide about her books. Who is the state government to decide on the behalf of the people? I will not bring in the Hindu-Muslim crisis here and demean the issue but the state government is ruining the lives of the people with its policies.”

The publisher and Women against Oppression — an NGO that helped in organising Sunday’s programme — also took the opportunity to hold a telephonic conversation with Nasreen.

“I would like to come back and settle in Kolkata. I am humbled that the people of Kolkata are protesting and have taken up my cause. I am also glad that my book is being released there,” she told Mahasweta Devi.

“If the chief minister lets her return then the people would certainly have a better impression of him and appreciate him more,” said Mahasweta Devi.