Taslima Nasreen accuses Bengal govt of cancelling plays on 'Lajja'
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Kolkata: The renowned Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who is in exile and is living in India, accused the West Bengal government of cancelling shows of a play based on her controversial novel 'Lajja' (shame) from two theatre festivals organised in the state. She alleged on Monday that the state police intervened at the Gobardanga Natyoutsav in North 24 Parganas and the Pandua Natyoutsav in Hooghly, pressuring organisers to remove the play from the schedule, citing concerns that it could provoke communal riots.
However, the police dismissed Nasreen's claims on Tuesday and said that the decision to remove the play from the schedule was solely taken by the organisers.
The novel Lajja was published in 1993 and narrates the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus following the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. The book caused a severe uproar in Bangladesh, and Nasreen was forced to flee the country following a fatwa.
Dismissing the allegations by the writer, Senior police officers of Hooghly (Rural) and Barasat police districts claimed that no one from the district administration or the police department had any clue that the shows were called off.
"We had not gone to any place nor spoken to anyone regarding the organising of any play here in Hooghly rural areas. It is the decision of the club authorities, and the police administration has nothing to do with it," an officer told PTI.
Expressing her allegations in a social media post on Monday, she wrote, "While the schedule of the play had been announced two months back, all of a sudden, the police prevailed upon the organisers to omit 'Lajja' from the list. Let me remind you, a theatre group had staged the same play three times in Delhi before a packed auditorium."
The Pandua club official said that the play was scheduled for 29th December but was called off for "some specific reasons". However, he declined to elaborate on the reasons.