Taslima on IBNLive chat: 'India is not a theocracy'

BOLD VIEWS: Taslima has been dogged by controversy from the day her book, Lajja, was published.

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Taslima Nasreen: In India, freedom of expression is something which you still have to fight for. I want to reside in Bengal because I speak in Bengali, my culture is Bengali and I write in Bengali. Obviously, I feel at home there. I may be going through a lot of discomfort at the moment, I may have reasons to feel harassed, but I can obviously take hope from the fact that the majority of people want me in India. After all, in a democracy it's the majority which counts.

Susanta: What is forthcoming book?

Taslima Nasreen: I have been writing my autobiography. The forthcoming book is about my suffering after the death of my parents. I wasn't allowed to go to my country to be with my father in his last days. This will be the sixth part of my autobiography.

100rabh: Why do you think you don't hate India for all that it's done to you in the recent past?

Taslima Nasreen: Since my childhood, I have regarded India as a great land and a fearless nation. A land of my dreams; enlightened, strong, progressive and tolerant. I want to be proud of that India. I will die a happy the day I know India has forsaken darkness for light, bigotry for tolerance. I await that day. I do not know whether I will survive, but India and what she stands for has to survive.

Aravindhan: Do you think the Muslim women get influenced by your writings? Is their view of the society and religion changing? Do you feel you are successful or you think there is still a long way to go?

Taslima Nasreen: If I had not been successful in influencing women, I wouldn't have been targeted by fundamentalist forces.

Nikhil: What is the solution for this growing Talibanisation treatment towards Muslim women by these so-called mullahs?

Taslima Nasreen: True secularisation of the state, secular education and implementation of the Uniform Civil Code and by fighting traditions and customs which are anti-women.

Bubul: Taslima, you are not only a writer, but also a doctor and a sensitive human being. How do you cope with all the controversies: the loneliness of being away from Bengali language and culture, your friends and relatives and the scary fatwas and the ire of the fanatics? How do you motivate yourself on a daily basis — do you have any role models for moral courage like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King or any favourite poetry/prose/quotes to get you through tough times?

Taslima Nasreen: My inspiration is any woman... say a woman breaking bricks for a living... It's her struggle, her fight which inspires me. I draw inspiration more from the ordinary than the extraordinary.

Test100: Do you support what France has done by banning conspicuous religious symbols like the hijab or the turban?

Taslima Nasreen: I don't think religious symbols should be encouraged in secular (free from religion) schools. This ban is only in secular schools.

Mukesh Marwah: Hi Taslima, my ouestions: 1. Any plan for new book? 2. Do you think you were right what you have written? If you do believe that you were right, then why don't you come out in the open and face the reality with the masses who are against you as per your thought and as per you book Lajja?

Taslima Nasreen: I have stood by truth come what may. Now the reality is that I am living under virtual house arrest. So I am not allowed by the government to go out and face the reality.

Next: 'Women are not child-bearing machines'