Same Islamists forced Hasina to leave B'desh, says exiled author Nasreen

The same Islamists who threw her out have forced Sheikh Hasina to leave Bangladesh, says author Taslima Nasreen, exiled from the country in the 1990s following protests over her book "Lajja".

On Monday, Hasina resigned and fled the country amid massive public anger over her government's controversial quota system reserving 30 per cent jobs for families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war. More than 400 people have been killed in the protests.

Finding Hasina's situation ironic, Nasreen said in a post on X, "Hasina in order to please Islamists threw me out of my country in 1999 after I entered Bangladesh to see my mother in her deathbed and never allowed me to enter the country again. The same Islamists have been in the student movement who forced Hasina to leave the country today."

Nasreen has been living in exile since 1994 after she faced criticism from Islamist fundamentalists for her writings on communalism and women's equality in Bangladesh.

Some of her books, includ