Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Monday alleged that the West Bengal government had forced the organisers of two theatre festivals not to stage a play based on her novel Lajja.

Published in 1993, Lajja described the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition the year prior. The book caused an uproar in Bangladesh, forcing Nasreen to flee the country and live in exile in Europe and North America for 10 years. The author has been living in India since 2004 on a long-term multiple-entry visa.

In a social media post on Monday, Nasreen alleged that the West Bengal Police pressured the organisers of the Gobardanga Natyoutsav in North 24 Parganas district and the Pandua Natyoutsav in Hooghly to remove performances of the play from their schedule.

The police told the organisers that the play could provoke communal riots, claimed Nasreen.

“While the schedule of the play had been announced two months back, all of a sudden the police prevailed upon the organisers to omit ‘Lajja’ from the list,” she wrote. “Let me remind you, a theatre group had staged the same play three times in Delhi before a packed auditorium.”

Nasreen added: “I was forced to leave West Bengal with the apprehension that my presence would provoke fundamentalists to engineer riots. I cannot fathom why no action is taken against the rioters and the voices of free expression are being muzzled.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party came out in Nasreen’s support, accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of hypocrisy, reported PTI.

“The little difference between fundamentalists in Bangladesh and West Bengal chief minister has ceased to exist, as she is not allowing a popular stage play of protest against fundamentalism, apprehending it will lead to riots,” Union minister Sukanta Majumdar was quoted as saying.

Amit Malviya, the chief of the BJP’s publicity wing, said that Banerjee should consider “stepping down” if she was “unable to manage law and order”.