Kolkata, Aug 1 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday assured exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen of full security whenever she visits the state, asserting that everyone was free to exercise their right to free speech under the new BJP government.
Addressing a felicitation programme for Nasreen at Rabindra Sadan here, Adhikari said it was the duty of his government to ensure her safety whenever she came to West Bengal.
Nasreen returned to Kolkata on Friday after nearly 19 years and made her first public appearance in the city since then at the anti-fundamentalism literary event.
“It is my duty as the Chief Minister of the state to provide you with security whenever you visit,” Adhikari said.
He also invited the exiled writer to visit the state as often as she wished.
“Whenever you want, you can come here as many times as you want,” he said.
Referring to the change in the political climate in the state, Adhikari said the new government was committed to protecting freedom of expression.
“Everyone has the right to exercise their freedom of speech in West Bengal under the new government,” he said.
The chief minister also declared that “the days of threats and intimidation are over”, in an apparent reference to the circumstances under which Nasreen had left Kolkata in 2007 following violent protests over her writings.
The exiled Bangladeshi author had lived in Kolkata between 2004 and 2007 before being asked to leave the city by the then Left Front government amid violent protests over portions of her memoir ‘Dwikhandito’ (Split: A Life). PTI PNT NN
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