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I will continue to write against `patriarchal discrimination': Taslima

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Sunday said she would continue writing against "patriarchal discrimination'' against women and support secular humanism in all parts of world where religious minorities were persecuted.

Ms. Nasreen, who was here to participate in the launch of "Education for all'' project, said women were still victims of physical and sexual violence, religious terrorism and trafficking and suffered unbearable inequalities and injustices. "'Their condition cannot improve unless we evolve an ethical world in which humanity flourishes,'' she said. Interacting with mediapersons before the formal launch of the scholarship project for basic education at Raj Bhavan here, Ms. Nasreen said she dreamt of a tolerant world where human beings respect each other. "I have been writing to make my dream come true with the hope that war, bloodshed and violence come to an end,'' she said.

Ms. Nasreen, who was on her first visit to Rajasthan, said she was presently working on the next part of her autobiographical memoirs and added that she was forced to live in exile because extremists in her country were still threatening to kill her. "They burnt my books and threw me out of Bangladesh for what I wrote,'' she said.

The writer of the "Lajja'' (shame) fame attended the function in Raj Bhavan amid indications that the Rajasthan National Forum, which organised the event, was reluctant to introduce her to Governor Pratibha Patil. The organisers, who were indecisive till the last moment, held a separate function for the campaign in a luxury hotel where mediapersons were invited.

Rajasthan National Forum's president Sandeep Bhutoria said that a set of invitation cards printed for the Raj Bhavan function had omitted Ms. Nasreen's name, after mentioning her as a speaker in the first set, because she was likely to be away for visiting the places of tourist interest.

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