Published : 03 Aug 2026, 03:51 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:29 AM
Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin has called for ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to return to Bangladesh and lead the Awami League in future elections, NDTV reports.
Nasrin, who returned to Kolkata after nearly two decades, also demanded the removal of restrictions on Hasina's party, the Bangladesh Awami League.
"The ouster of Awami League leader [Hasina] in the way it happened was wrong. It was anti-democratic. Banning the party was absolutely undemocratic.”
“They should be allowed to participate in elections. I want Hasina to return to Bangladesh," she was quoted as saying by the Indian outlet.
Although Nasrin referred to the party as being "banned", Bangladesh has prohibited all activities of the Awami League since May 2025 rather than formally outlawing the party.
Hasina fled to India in August 2024 after resigning amid the July Uprising.
The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia in November last year over allegations that she ordered the deadly crackdown on the 2024 student-led mass movement.
The unrest began after the High Court reinstated a 30 percent quota in public service jobs for descendants of 1971 Liberation War veterans, triggering student protests that later grew into a nationwide anti-government movement.
A United Nations report estimated about 1,400 people were killed during the unrest, most of them by security forces.
NDTV said Nasrin also criticised radical Islamists and the madrasa system.
"I feel there is no need for any madrasa. It only produces jihadis. All madrasas should be converted into secular schools," she said.
She thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for inviting her back to Kolkata.
"I see nothing political in inviting me to Kolkata after 19 years. The newly elected government has assured security in Bengal during my stay. I would like to thank the chief minister for that.”
She said she felt disheartened when Bengali poet Joy Goswami faced protests from a section of the audience and had his address interrupted a day earlier, at a cultural event organised to mark her return to the city, according to the report.
The “unexpected disruption” left Nasrin standing silently at the microphone for a few moments as the auditorium erupted with slogans and raised voices.
"I felt bad. It was not an insult just to Joy, but to me too. There might be animosity but everyone has a right to speak. Were there people who didn't want Joy Goswami to speak?
“I felt bad but I hope it doesn't happen again.”
On the arrest of former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh, she said he had paid the price for standing up for Hindus in distress.
"Many like us are speaking up for Chinmoy. Free thinkers are continuously being targeted. Many of us had no choice but to leave the country," she said, as per the NDTV.
