Thursday, November 4, 1999 I want to return to India again and again, says Taslima CALCUTTA: In a 'cri-de-coeur,' exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has said she wanted to return to India 'again and again' if given permission, reports PTI. ''I love Calcutta as much as I love Dhaka... I have come here to breathe freely, to remain alive ... I will come to india again and again if given permission,'' the controversial writer back in India after six years, said in an emotional prelude to a poetry-reading session here last evening. Nasreen, hounded by pro-Islamic groups in Bangladesh said though her sujourn in France saved her from 'head-hunters, jackals and vultures back home,' living there made her feel like an 'uprooted tree replanted somewhere else.' stating that she had dreamt of changing society with her writings, Nasreen said these dreams were her only means of sustenance in a foreign country. The anasthesist-turned-writer asserted she would never bow down to pressures from fundamentalists, and appealed to the audience to 'pray, so that I can retain my honesty and integrity.' over the hour-long session, her poetries reflected her longing to return to her home and her people. She broke down once while reading a poetry dedicated to her late mother. Recalling her chance association with Nasreen, eminent Bengali poet Sunil Ganguly said her very first work that he came across reflected her poetic qualities.
EXPRESSindia.com