Taslima Nasreen was born in August 1962 in a Muslim family in Mymensingh, East

 Pakistan. Because the area became independent in 1971, her city of birth is now in the

 country called Bangladesh.

 

Growing up in a highly restrictive and conservative environment, Taslima was fond of

 literature while she also excelled in science. She started writing when she was 15 years

 old, beginning with poetry in literary magazines, and afterwards herself editing a literary

 periodical called    SeNjuti (1978 - 1983). She was the president of a literary organization

 while in medical college, where she staged many cultural programs. Earning her medical

  degree in 1984, she worked in public hospitals for eight

 years.                                                                                                   
 

Her first book  of poetry  was published in 1986. Her second became a   huge success in

 1989, and editors of progressive  daily and weekly newspapers suggested that she write

 regular columns. Next she started writing about women's oppression. With no hesitation

 she criticized religion, traditions, and the oppressive cultures and customs that       

      discriminate against women. Her strong language and uncompromising attitude against

 male domination stirred many people, eliciting both love and hatred from her readers.
                                                                                                                  
In 1992 she received the prestigious literary award Ananda from West Bengal in India for

 her Nirbachito Kolam (Selected Columns), the first writer from Bangladesh to earn that

 award. Despite allegations of jealousy among other writers about this, the topmost

 intellectuals and writers continued to support her.

                                                                                                                 
Islamic fundamentalists started launching  campaign against her in 1990, staging street

 demonstrations and processions. They broke into newspaper offices that she used to

 regularly write from, sued her editors and publishers, and put her life in danger, a danger

 that only increased over time. She was publicly assaulted several times by fundamentalist

 mobs. No longer was she welcomed to any public places, not even to book fairs that she

 loved to visit. In 1993, a fundamentalist organization called Soldiers of Islam issued a

 fatwa against her, a price was set on her head because of her criticism of Islam, and she

 was confined to her house.
 
The government  confiscated her passport and  asked her to quit writing if she hoped to

 keep her job as a medical doctor in   Dhaka Medical College Hospital.. She was thus

 forced to quit her job.
 
Inasmuch as she had become a best-selling author in Bangladesh and West Bengal in

 India, she managed to survive the hostility. The government, however, banned Lajja

 (Shame), in which she described the atrocities against Hindu minorities by Muslim

 fundamentalists, her main message being "Let humanism be the other name of religion."
 
According to Taslima, the religious scriptures are out of  time, out of place. Instead of

 religious laws, she maintains, what is needed is a uniform civil code that accords women

 equality and justice. Her views caused fourteen different political and non-political religious

 organizations to unite for the first time, starting violent demonstrations, calling   general

 strikes, blocking government offices, and demanding her immediate execution by hanging.
 
The government, instead of taking action against the fundamentalists, turned against her. A

 case was filed charging that she hurt people's religious feelings, and a non-bail-able arrest

 warrant was issued. Deeming prison to be an extremely unsafe place, Taslima went into

 hiding..
 

In the meantime two more fatwas were issued by Islamic extremists, two more prices were

 set on her head, and hundreds of  thousands of fundamentalists took to the streets,

 demanding her death. The majority who were not fundamentalists remained silent.

 Regardless, some anti-fundamentalist political groups did protest the fundamentalist

 uprising, but did not defend Taslima as a writer and a human being who should have the

 freedom to express her views. Only a few writers defended her rights.

 
But  the international organization of writers, and many humanist organizations beyond the

 borders of Bangladesh, came to Taslima's support. News of her plight became known

 throughout the world. Some western democratic governments that endorse human rights

 and freedom of expression tried saving her life. After long miserable days in hiding, she

 was finally granted bail but was also forced to leave her country.

 
Wherever she lived, she fought   for Human Rights and Women’s Rights. In 1998, without

 the government's permission she risked a return, to be with her ailing mother. Again,

 fundamentalists demanded she be killed. When her mother - a religious Muslim - died,

 nobody came from any mosque to lead her funeral, her crime being that she was the

 mother of an 'infidel'. A case again  was filed against her on the charges of hurting

 religious feelings of the people. After  a few weeks of staying,  Taslima  was forced to

 leave her country  once more.  Taslima was  desperate   to see her father when he was ill,

 but the government did not let her go to Bangladesh. Her  passport was not renewed, her

 rights as a citizen had  constantly been violated by the governmental

 authority. 

                                                                                                             
Taslima has been living in exile in Europe. She has written  more than thirty   books of

 poetry, essays, novels, and short stories in her native language of Bengali. Many have

 been translated into twenty different languages. Her applications to the Bangladesh

 government to be allowed to return have been denied repeatedly. One Bangladesh court

 sentenced her in absentia to a one-year prison term. The Bangladesh government has

 recently banned three  other of her books, Amar Meyebela ( My girlhood), Utol Hawa (Wild

 wind)  and Sei sob ondhokar(Those dark days).

 
Writers  and  intellectuals  both in Bangladesh and West Bengal went to court to ban her

autobiography   Ko( speak up)  and  Dwikhandito(The Life Divided). Two million-dollar 

 defamations suits were filed  against Taslima by her fellow writers. The West Bengal

 government  finally managed  to ban   Dwikhandito on the charges of hurting religious

 feelings of the people. A Human Rights organization in Kolkata  flied a case against   West

 Bengal government  for banning a book that  is against  freedom of expression. After two

  years, the ban was lifted by  the Kolkata High Court, which, Taslima says, is a victory for

 freedom of expression.  
                                                                          

                                
The numerous prestigious awards she has received in western countries have resulted in 

 increased  international attention to  her struggle for women's rights and freedom of

 expression.  She has become a  symbol of free-speech. Taslima has been invited to speak

 in many countries and at renowned universities throughout the world. Her dreams of

 secularization of  society  and secular instead of religious education are becoming

 increasingly more accepted and  honored by those who value freedom.

Taslima was forced to leave Bangladesh for Europe.  After a decade, when  she was

 granted a visa, she visited India, her second home. When she was granted residence

 permit, she  moved there.  But only after 3 years of living  in West Bengal, because some

 Muslim extremists wanted her to leave India, the West Bengal Government and the Indian

 Government forced her to live under house arrest and  put pressure on her to leave the

 country. She was forced to leave India after being confined for  seven and half months.

 

The real tragedy is that two countries which give her the oxygen of language have cut her

 off. It's not the geography alone, but the languagescape also. That's the real crime... a fish

 being made to live on land.

She does not have home. She is homeless everywhere.               

                                                                                                                     

   Curriculum Vitae