Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has shared her views on the death of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, highlighting the former leader’s controversial stance on freedom of expression. Nasreen, whose books were repeatedly banned during Zia’s tenure, spoke about the personal and professional impact of those bans.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Nasreen criticized Zia for “siding with jihadists” by filing cases against secular, humanist, and feminist writers, which led to Nasreen’s forced exile. “She issued an arrest warrant against me and unjustly expelled me from my own country. During her rule, I was not allowed to return home,” Nasreen said. She questioned whether Zia’s death might finally open doors for lifting bans on her works, including Lajja, Utal Hawa, Ka, and Those Dark Days, which were prohibited between 1993 and 2004.
Nasreen’s books often addressed social injustices and communal violence, including the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, and faced repeated censorship amid threats from fundamentalist groups aligned with Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). She fled Bangladesh first to Sweden in 1994 and later settled in India due to ongoing threats.
Khaleda Zia, who passed away at 80 after prolonged illness affecting her heart and lungs, served as Bangladesh’s prime minister for a total of ten years. Despite being out of power since 2006 and facing periods of incarceration and house arrest, Zia remained a key political figure. Her son, Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the BNP, returned to Bangladesh last week after nearly 17 years in self-exile and is considered a strong contender for the upcoming parliamentary elections in February 2026.
Nasreen concluded her reflection by urging that the protection of freedom of expression must take precedence over past political grievances. “While she was alive, she did not lift the bans on those books. If her death now protects freedom of expression, so be it,” she stated.
