Taslima now angers Hasina with poem

Dhaka, 15 Apr   :   A poem by controversial writer
Taslima Nasreen, which allegedly has comments against
Islam, has reportedly angered Bangladeshi Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina and religious leaders in this country.

The Bengali language tabloid ‘Manab-Zamin’, quoting
competent sources, said Hasina was "seriously hurt by the
comments" of Nasreen in the poem published in the
Calcutta-based Bengali weekly ‘Desh’. On April 4, the
government banned the issue of the magazine dated March 20
and seized all copies from the news stands.

The daily said Nasreen’s attempt to return home from exile
has been seriously jeopardised by the poem.

Nasreen has been in exile in Europe and the U.S. after
writing a novel in 1994 which had passages which were
objected to by Islamic leaders. She had returned to her
native Bangladesh last year with her ailing mother. Though
there was speculation that she could be arrested if she
returned home, Nasreen was allowed in. She left the country
again after her mother’s death in February this year.

‘Manab-Zamin’ claimed Nasreen’s comments on Prophet
Mohammed in her poem ‘Amar Maer Galpa’ (My Mother’s Story)
were harsher than what writer Salman Rushdie made on Islam.

The daily also quoted a cabinet minister as saying that
nobody with a healthy mind could write such an obscene poem
centring on one’s mother.

The publishers ‘Desh’, the Anandabazar Patrika group, had
awarded Nasreen the Ananda Puruskar, a prestigious annual
literary award, for her controversial novel ‘Lajja’ which
had landed her in trouble at home in 1994.

Muslim leaders welcomed the government’s action in seizing
copies of the magazine. They said they did not know the
contents of the poem and would consider action against
Nasreen after going through it.