Taslima Nasreen may be going through one of her worst phases since she stormed into news, and controversy, with Lajja in 1993, but this is not the first time that the Bangladeshi writer has been the subject of public ire. What is less known is that the 45-year-old is a trained physician, who once worked with the Bangladesh government. She started out writing columns about equal rights and the restrictions Islam imposed on women in the early '90s. The first of the many fatwas against Taslima followed soon. The writer hasn't looked back since:

1993: Taslima publishes Lajja in Bengali, in response to the anti-Hindu riots in Bangladesh after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The book, which hints that communalism is on the rise in the country, is banned in Bangladesh, followed by a few states in India. There are calls seeking her death, and her passport is confiscated

1994: Instead of acting against those who had issued the threats, the Bangladesh government files a case against her for blasphemy. An arrest warrant is issued, and Taslima goes into hiding. Finally, after bail is granted, she goes into exile. The same year she wins the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, given by the European Parliament. Back home clerics demand that she be brought back and tried under the Sharia law, "which provides for death sentence against such sinners"

1998: Her mother seriously ill, Taslima secretly returns to Bangladesh from Sweden and surrenders to the Bangladesh High Court. Taslima's mother dies in early 1999. As the death threats don't cease, Taslima again returns to Sweden

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