Author Taslima Nasreen. — File photo

DHAKA: A head teacher in Bangladesh has been arrested after a banned book regarded by some Muslims as blasphemous was found in her college, police said Wednesday.

Yunus Ali was arrested from the KC Technical and Business Management College in the coastal district of Pirojpur after police discovered a copy of Taslima Nasreen's novel “Lajja” (“Shame”) in the college library, police inspector Abdul Malek said.

Nasreen was forced to flee the country in 1994 after radical Muslims accused her of blasphemy over the novel, which depicts the life of a Hindu family persecuted by Muslims in Bangladesh.

The novel was banned a year after publication in 1993 under legislation in Muslim-majority Bangladesh that outlaws “inflammatory statements”.

The 49-year-old gynaecologist-turned-author now lives mostly in Europe and India, where she has also been hounded into hiding by death threats from religious extremists.

“Lajja is a banned book. Still, the principal had it in the college library,” Malek said, adding Ali faced prosecution and could be jailed up to three years if found guilty.

Ali said he was a victim of conspiracy, according to mass-circulated Bengali daily Prothom Alo.

Pirated copies of Lajja are widely available in local book shops and markets in Bangladesh.

Opinion

Bribed doctors

Bribed doctors

A cocktail of measures — educational, managerial, regulatory — need to be taken and interventions need to be made simultaneously and sustainably.

Editorial

Digital dragnet
24 Jan, 2025

Digital dragnet

The Pakistani state must stop inflicting wounds on itself and learn to resolve its internal issues through social and political means.
USC closure
24 Jan, 2025

USC closure

THE PML-N government seems to have finally firmed up its mind on the future of the Utility Stores. The cabinet has...
Hindu exodus
Updated 24 Jan, 2025

Hindu exodus

The state cannot absolve itself of the responsibility to protect Hindu citizens, and assure them of safety.
A dying light
Updated 23 Jan, 2025

A dying light

Objections to the 26th Amendment must be settled quickly for the Supreme Court's sake.
Controversial canals
23 Jan, 2025

Controversial canals

THE Punjab government’s contentious plans to build new canals to facilitate corporate farming in the province ...
Killjoys
23 Jan, 2025

Killjoys

THE skies over Lahore have fallen silent. Punjab’s latest legislation banning kite flying represents a troubling...