Was molested by Sahitya Akademi chief: Taslima

The verbal spat between renowned littérateur and Sahitya Akademi president Sunil Gangopadhyay and Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen turned ugly on Tuesday when Nasreen, whom The Indian Express spoke to, said she stuck to her Twitter post that Gangopadhyay subjected her to sexual harassment and molestation.

In her tweet on Monday, Nasreen, who was forced to leave Kolkata in 2007, accused Gangopadhyay of molesting her, and creating circumstances so that her book was banned and she was ousted from the city.

The Left Front government decided to force Nasreen out of the city following a violent protest by a Muslim group which objected to her stay for her disparaging remarks against the Prophet in the third part of her autobiography, Dwikhandita.

The book was banned by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government. Later, the ban was lifted by the Calcutta High Court.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Gangopadhyay, said he was shocked at Nasreen's accusations. "I cannot understand why she is raising these allegations now. I have always said I was opposed to all bans of any literary work and I always fought against it. When she was driven out of Kolkata I said Buddhadeb should have taken the risk of keeping her in Kolkata even though the government fell. And when Dwikhandita was published I told her privately that she should not have revealed her relationship with those people who were still alive. In any case I don't care (about what she says)...I stick to my principles,'' he said.

Nasreen hit back saying: "Is there a time frame to level an accusation? Why can't I reveal the crime Sunilda has committed? I made that comment on Twitter because Sunilda was critical of the action the state government took in case of IPS officer Nazrul Islam's book. The same man who was part of the plot to throw me out of Kolkata is now posing to be a sage."

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