It is unfair to label me anti-Islam. I am an atheist and a secular humanist.

All I ever want is to return to either Bangladesh, my motherland, or India, my adopted home.

If any religion allows the persecution of the people of different faiths, if any religion keeps women in slavery, if any religion keeps people in ignorance, then I can't accept that religion.

I was born in a middle class Muslim family, in a small town called Myonenningh in a northern part of Bangladesh in 1962. My father is a qualified physician; my mother is a housewife. I have two elder brothers and one younger sister. All of them received a liberal education in schools and colleges.

I was well acquainted with the Calcutta literary circle since I was 17, when I lived in Bangladesh and published and edited a little magazine called 'Sejuti,' for which young poets from both Bengals wrote. If you look at my life, there is no question of using anyone for anything. I have only got banned, blacklisted and banished.

I am an atheist. I do not believe in prayers, I believe in work. And my work is that of an author. My pen is my weapon.

I am not scared of anyone. I will write and publish my books.