Kol pockets that burned during 2007 unrest greet Taslima’s return with apathy and indifference
Times of India | 1 August 2026
Kolkata: Ripon Street looked like any other normal weekday on Friday afternoon. People dispersed peacefully after offering Friday prayers at local mosques, garment shops at the busy AJC Bose Road crossing remained open, customers walked in and out of eateries and other shops, tea stalls buzzed with conversation, and schoolchildren headed home as classes ended on schedule.
Nearly 19 years ago, the same streets had witnessed one of Kolkata’s most turbulent days, when violent protests over the presence of Bangladesh-born author-in-exile Taslima Nasrin brought central parts of the city to a standstill.
On Friday, as Nasrin returned to Kolkata ahead of a literary programme at Rabindra Sadan on Aug 1, there was little in Ripon Street, AJC Bose Road, Beniapukur, Darga Road and adjoining neighbourhoods to suggest that the author whose presence once sparked widespread unrest was back in the city.
“Everything is normal here today unlike in Nov 2007, when it had turned into a battlefield. In fact, a large section of people is not even aware that Nasrin is in Kolkata today. People have too many other issues to even bother about it,” said Uzma Jahan, a social worker from Beniapukur.
Nasrin arrived in Kolkata on Friday to attend a literary programme at Rabindra Sadan on Saturday, where organisers are expected to felicitate her. The Bangladesh-born writer, known for her writings on women’s rights, secularism and the treatment of women in conservative religious societies, had lived in Kolkata before being forced to leave in Nov 2007 after violent protests over her presence in the city.
The violence erupted on Nov 21, 2007, beginning with demonstrations near the Ripon Street-AJC Bose Road crossing before rapidly spreading through Ripon Street, Park Circus, CIT Road, Ananda Palit Road and adjoining neighbourhoods. The protesters attacked police, vehicles were torched and shops hurriedly downed their shutters as large parts of central Kolkata descended into chaos.
As the clashes intensified in 2007, police came under sustained attack from stone-pelting protesters while mobs used the narrow lanes of central Kolkata to launch repeated assaults. Vehicles were set ablaze, commuters were stranded and thousands of students and teachers remained confined inside schools until evening. With the situation deteriorating, the state govt called in the Army to conduct flag marches before curfew was imposed in parts of central Kolkata. Nasrin was subsequently moved out of the city under tight security.
Residents who lived through that day recalled that the violence lingered well beyond the hours of unrest. “The business suffered for weeks because there was so much tension. People simply stopped coming to the area,” said Sharique Shamsi, who owns a garment shop at the Ripon Street-AJC Bose Road crossing.
One of the starkest memories of that day remains the plight of schoolchildren caught in the violence. An English-medium school teacher recalled that parents spent the day desperately calling the school as clashes continued outside. “We did not allow a single student to leave the campus. Parents kept calling to ask if their children were safe. It was only after the police assured us in the evening that the area was secure that we allowed them to leave,” said the teacher.
On Thursday, the contrast was unmistakable. Schools functioned normally, students dispersed at the usual hour and traffic flowed uninterrupted through roads that had once been sealed off by violence. Some residents believe the unrest did not reflect the mood of the neighbourhood itself.
“The mobilisation was done by leaders of a political party who wanted to demonstrate their support base among Muslims. They brought in people from outside to create trouble. The incident did not have the support of local residents,” said Mohammad Omar, a CPM functionary from Nonapukur.