Taslima Nasreen slams AR Rahman for ‘communal’ remark, gives example of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan's success

NOted east pakistani author Taslima Nasreen, who has been living in a self-exile in republic of india, has criticised AR Rahman for indicating that he may feature missed work in the Hindi film industry due to a communal bias. Citing examples of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, the author said that it doesn't suit the Oscar winning music composer to be "pitied".Taslima Nasreen slams RahmanTaslima took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to call out Rahman for the communal remarks, saying the ‘rich’ ones don’t face difficulties.“AR Rahman is a Muslim and is extraordinarily famous in India. His remuneration, as far as I have heard, is higher than that of all other artists. He is probably the richest musician. He is complaining that he is not given work in Bollywood because he is a Muslim. Shah Rukh Khan is still the Badshah of Bollywood; Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi—all of them are superstars,” Taslima wrote.She continued, “The famous and the rich never face difficulties anywhere. No matter what religion they belong to, what caste, or what community. Difficulties happen to poor people like me.” Talking about her struggles, Taslima shared, “Even though I am a strict atheist, because of my name I am assumed to be a Muslim. Those who are anti-Muslim do not care whether one is an atheist or a believer. No one wants to rent me an apartment. When I go to a hospital, they deceive me and cut off my leg. I get beaten even for being an atheist in Hyderabad; I cannot set foot in Aurangabad; I am pushed out of West Bengal.These problems do not even come within the farthest boundaries of A. R. Rahman’s life or of Muslim stars in Bollywood.”“I am not a citizen. Between a citizen and a resident, except for the right to vote, all other rights are the same—at least the law says so. Many citizens do not live in India out of love; I live here because I love it. I never deviate from principles and ideals.After tearing apart the hollow bones and marrow of Islam, I am living a sentence of exile, yet people still say to me, “You people celebrate Eid by sighting the moon,” or “polygamy is practiced among you.” The common people of this country hardly know anything about atheism, or about the humanism that stands upon atheism,” she added.Taslima wrapped up her post, mentioning that there is nothing she can really do. “The men and women of this land are my own people. The culture of this soil is my culture too. How far can I ngo if I leave it behind? A. R. Rahman is revered by Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, atheists, and believers alike. It does not suit him to be pitied,” she ended.Rahman gets backlashIn an interview with BBC Asian Network, Rahman was asked whether he ever felt prejudice in Bollywood as a Tamil composer. He said, “Maybe I never got to know of this, maybe it was concealed by God, but I didn’t feel any of this. The past eight years, maybe, because a power shift has happened, and people who are not creative have the power now. It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face.” He also criticised Chhaava for cashing in on ‘divisiveness’.The Oscar-winning music composer faced backlash for his comments. He later shared a statement apologising for the ‘pain’ caused. Rahman said, “Music has always been my way of connecting, celebrating and honouring our culture. India is my inspiration, my teacher and my home. I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood. But my purpose has always been to uplift, honour and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain, and I hope my sincerity is felt.”On the work front, Rahman is busy working on Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana. For the film, he has collaborated with Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer. The film is slated for a theatrical release on Diwali 2026.