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" All I ever want is to return to either Bangladesh, my motherland, or India, my adopted home. "

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" The focus of my research is how secular movements originated in West Asian countries and subsequently changed to pan-Islamic movements. The role of Western countries in this aspect is also a part of the research. "

" When Bangladesh refused to renew my passport, I used U.N. travel documents. You can't disown your country. "

" Women are oppressed in the east, in the west, in the south, in the north. Women are oppressed inside, outside home, a woman is oppressed in religion, she is oppressed outside religion. "

" I am not scared of anyone. I will write and publish my books. "

" Koranic teaching still insists that the sun moves around the earth. How can we advance when they teach things like that? "

" I was born in a middle class Muslim family, in a small town called Myonenningh in a northern part of Bangladesh in 1962. My father is a qualified physician; my mother is a housewife. I have two elder brothers and one younger sister. All of them received a liberal education in schools and colleges. "

" Among all the 'awards' that I have hitherto collected, I consider the title of 'patita' or 'fallen woman' to be the highest. This is an achievement of my long-struggling life as a writer and as a woman. "

" I believe in absolute freedom of expression. Everyone has a right to offend and be offended. "

" I want to live in Kolkata; I don't want to live in Europe - I can't write there. I write in Bengali, and I need to be surrounded by the Bengali language and culture. "

" I write against the religion because if women want to live like human beings, they will have to live outside the religion and Islamic law. "

" The fundamentalists are increasing. People, afraid to oppose those fundamentalists, shut their mouths. It is really very difficult to make people move against a sensitive issue like religion, which is the source of fundamentalism. "

" Religious fundamentalists in Bangladesh have always argued for a ban on my books. "

" When I write, I don't allow the fear of consequences to interfere with the writing process. I have in the past paid for my commitment to the truth and the way I live my life. I am prepared to pay more if I have to. "

" Sheikh Hasina's government is one of the best Bangladesh has ever had. She is taking action against fundamentalists. But even she refused to let me return. I don't think I can ever return home. "

" I have lectured at the U.N. and travelled widely, giving lectures on human rights and gender inequalities in universities. But this is a life I do not wish to live. I don't want to be a showcase, I want to be in a battlefield where I can stand beside the oppressed and the poor. "

" I have been writing poetry since 1975. My first poetry book was published in 1986. "

" It is unfair to label me anti-Islam. I am an atheist and a secular humanist. "

" I studied in a medical college and qualified myself as a medical graduate. "

" I was well acquainted with the Calcutta literary circle since I was 17, when I lived in Bangladesh and published and edited a little magazine called 'Sejuti,' for which young poets from both Bengals wrote. If you look at my life, there is no question of using anyone for anything. I have only got banned, blacklisted and banished. "

" Nature says women are human beings, men have made religions to deny it. Nature says women are human beings, men cry out no! "

" I have had fatwas issued against me, some three in Bangladesh and another five in India. I will not be cowed by these threats and shall fight for my rights. "

" Those religions that are oppressive to women are also against democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression. "