Taslima Nasrin Quotes

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

According to Abdul Kalam Azad, 'It is one of the greatest frauds on the people to suggest that religious affinity can unite areas which are geographically, economically, linguistically and culturally different.

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

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

Even today, the politics of religion does not allow the subcontinent to become civilized and its people to become truly educated.

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.

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 dont agree with those who think that the conflict is simply between two religions, namely Christianity and Islam ... To me, the key conflict is between irrational blind faith and rational, logical minds.

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.

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.

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

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.

I strongly believe that no one can be a true feminist without being an atheist. All religions are anti-women. No one can be pro-woman while supporting anti-woman dogmas.

I support the rights of all people to practice their religious beliefs privately, but I oppose the idea of respecting religions. In truth, I have no respect for any religion. I believe religion is not compatible with human rights, women's rights, or freedom of expression.

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.

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.

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

I don't find any difference between Islam and Islamic fundamentalists. I believe religion is the root, and from the root fundamentalism grows as a poisonous stem. If we remove fundamentalism and keep religion, then one day or another fundamentalism will grow again. I need to say that because some liberals always defend Islam and blame fundamentalists for creating problems. But Islam itself oppresses women. Islam itself doesn't permit democracy and it violates human rights.

If any religion allows the persecution of the people of different faiths, if any religion keeps women in slavery, if any religion keeps people in ignorance, then I can't accept that religion.

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

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

Religion is against women's rights and women's freedom. In all societies women are oppressed by all religions.

There are some people who are untranslatable.

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

I am an atheist. I do not believe in prayers, I believe in work. And my work is that of an author. My pen is my weapon.

In traditional societies, we have a long legacy of men controlling the body and mind of women. Such societies have valorised motherhood and fabricated concepts like chastity. Women have been the victims of these notions for thousands of years.

Religion, society and state - from none of these do women get their proper honor. It is religion, which has created an unparalleled disparity between men and women.

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.

If I say that I'm educated and was jobless in Dhaka, that I want to work here, build myself a healthy, beautiful life, the kind of life that everyone dreams of, they'd just throw me out of the country. Political asylum they may just allow, but economical asylum - never!

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.

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

I'm an atheist, and I believe religion is totally against human rights and women's rights.

I believe that if the silent majority were to protest against those who believe in irrational blind faith - who want to go backwards instead of forward, who are for tradition not innovation, who oppose individualism and plurality of thought - then the world would become a truly civilized world in which to live.