KOLKATA: Controversy broke out moments after author Taslima Nasreen tweeted saying ‘Bangladesh supporting Pakistan is like a rape victim supporting her rapist’. The exiled Bangladeshi author made this comment during the ongoing Asia Cup T20 tournament in Bangladesh when India was playing against Pakistan on Saturday evening.Netizens were divided on her stand. While some congratulated her for ‘nailing it’, others dismissed it as yet another attempt at attention-seeking. According to exiled Bangladeshi blogger Subhajit Bhowmik, who is currently based in Australia, Nasreen is absolutely right in her analysis. “More than two lakh of our women were raped during our Liberation War in 1971. Pakistan never bothered to even apologise. It’s a shame that now, people have either forgotten their history, or consciously supporting the country, which raped their own mothers and sisters,” Bhowmik said.On being asked whether religion plays an important reason for determining which country to support, Bhowmik said, “For many, Muslim brotherhood is an important factor when it comes to choosing which country to support if there is an Indo-Pak match. For some, it's not. They just like Pakistan. To like something, one doesn't need any particular reason, as people like Brazil and Argentina in football, while having no connection with these countries.”Germany-based Bangladeshi blogger Ananya Azad was shocked with the Bangladesh support for Pakistan on Saturday. “Two years ago, I went to see a match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Mirpur stadium. I was shocked and hurt that 30% people supported Pakistan. I was really very ashamed. So, from one point of view, I agree with Taslima’s current Facebook status.”However, another Bangladeshi blogger based in London - SD Gupta - begged to differ. “She is an attention-seeker. I refuse to give her comments so much of importance. Besides only a small percentage of people from Bangladesh was supporting Pakistan,” Gupta said. He even had reservations about any reference to rape in this context. “I believe, rape is the ugliest crime in the world. Perhaps, even murder is a lesser crime in comparison to rape. Taslima wanted to hit the headline. She needs to understand that nothing in the world can be compared to rape. But then, I must add that supporting India against Pakistan should be more than natural for Bangladeshis,” he said.Indian director Mrityunjoy Devvrat of ‘Children of War’ fame that featured the genocide in Bangladesh said he was ‘shocked’ with the kind of support Pakistan was getting from Bangladesh in this match. “It’s not just shocking but painful to see so much support for them there. I absolutely agree with Taslima’s statement,” Devvrat said.Riddhi Sen, who acted in ‘Children of War’, described Bangladesh’s support for Pakistan as ‘weird’. According to Sen, “People who are aware of the history of Bangladesh will find this startling. I have a limited knowledge of the history of Bangladesh’s relations with India and Pakistan. Every individual is entitled to his or her view. I won’t judge her for that. But from what I have read, I feel this support is weird. I understand it is not always easy for them to support India either. It would have made more sense for Bangladesh to be neutral.”