Bangladesh's exiled feminist Nasreen blasts ban on latest novel

DHAKA, Nov 14 (AFP) - Exiled Bangladeshi feminist author Taslima Nasreen blasted a court order to halt circulation of her latest novel here, saying controversial passages about fellow writers were based on personal experience.

Nasreen, who fled in 1994 after threats from Muslim fundamentalists, told Bangladeshi expatriates in the United States that she "described only the facts," the US-based Bengali news service ENA reported Friday.

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"This is my personal liberty. I am not afraid of court cases," Nasreen told the gathering at Tufts University near Boston.

A Dhaka court Wednesday halted production, distribution and sale of Nasreen's novel "Ka," giving the publisher 15 days to explain why the book should be allowed in Bangladesh.

The injunction came after prominent writer Syed Shamsul Haque sued Nasreen for one billion taka (1.72 million dollars) saying his image was tarnished by "Ka," which stands for the first letter in the Bengali-language script.

In his petition, Haque said Nasreen wrote that he took two women to a provincial guesthouse and was seen throwing up the next day after getting drunk.

Nasreen said the descriptions in "Ka" were based on her own relationships with unspecified authors and journalists in Bangladesh and neighbouring India.

"They should have refuted my narration of facts by their own version instead of going to court," she was quoted saying.

"Readers could have easily judged which one is true ... This is not a civilised reaction," she said of Haque's legal challenge.

Nasreen, 41, fled Bangladesh after Muslim fundamentalists called for her death over the book "Lajja," or "Shame." The novel, also banned in Bangladesh, described abuses against the country's Hindu minority.

Nasreen, who is also a doctor, has since lived in self-exile in Europe and the United States and has caused further anger by renouncing religion.

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