Bangladesh: Authorities ban novel by Taslima Nasreen

Police have been told to confiscate all copies of Wild Wind, after the Home Ministry declared its publication, sale and distribution illegal. Wild Wind is the sequel to My Girlhood, published in 1999, which was also banned in Bangladesh for blasphemy.

The Hindustan Times comments, 'Ms Khalida Zia's camaraderie with Muslim fundamentalists has been much too evident over the years. Also evident is the not-so-subtle mix of a dictatorial streak with orthodox Islamic doctrines - as in many parts of the Arab world. Hence the ban on Ms Nasreen's book is all the more predictable.'