Taslima Nasreen says all Bengalis belong to India, Javed Akhtar responds

Taslima Nasreen had shared photos from a puja pandal saying the foundation of the Bengali culture was in the Hindu culture.

Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen's post on X got a response from lyricist Javed Akhtar on Tuesday, after the former said that Hindu culture is the foundation of Bengali culture.

Poet Javed Akhtar and exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen debated on X after she said that Hindu culture is the basis of Bengali culture. (X)

Nasreen shared photos from a puja pandal and wrote, “We Bengalis—whatever religion or philosophy we may have embraced over the course of history—belong, in our national identity, to India. The forefathers and foremothers of Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and even atheists of India were all, or nearly all, Indian Hindus."

She further wrote that for Bengali Muslims also, their culture is not of Arabia, Bengali culture which is rooted in Hindu tradition.

To Taslima's point on Muslims and the Arabic culture, Javed said that this culture has nothing to do with with the Arab. However, he noted, that Parsian and Central Asian cultures have had an influence but “on our terms and condition”. "BTW many Bangali surnames are in Persian,” he said in response to Taslima.

Javed Akhtar went on to write another post in response suggesting cultures cannot be categorised on the basis of religion. “Are you suggesting the culture of Gujrati Hindus and Tamil Hindus is the same or the culture of Lucknow Muslim and Konkan Muslim are identical or the culture of the North eastern Indian Christian and a French Christian is similar . Culture and languages belong to regions not to religions,” he wrote.