Taslima Nasreen Calls Hindu Culture the Basis of Bengali Identity; Javed Akhtar Counters with Ganga

Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen and poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar engaged in a debate on social media platform X after Nasreen described Hindu culture as the foundation of Bengali identity.

On Tuesday, Nasreen posted images of a Durga Puja pandal, writing:

“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 argued that even for Bengali Muslims, cultural roots lie in the Hindu tradition, not in Arabia.

Responding to her post, Javed Akhtar highlighted the pluralistic Ganga-Jamuni culture of India:

“We the people of traditional Awadh have great