New Delhi, August 17
The Union government is understood to have extended the visa of controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, who returned earlier this month after she was bundled out from West Bengal in November last year.
The papers for extending her visa, which was expiring today, were moved and the government gave the nod for the extension, sources said. However, it was not immediately clear whether the extension was for three or six months, they said adding that details regarding these have been kept under wraps. The 45-year-old Bangladeshi writer, who has been a target of Islamic fundamentalists, returned to India early this month from Sweden and was whisked away by security agencies to an undisclosed destination in the national capital. The future plans of the doctor-turned writer, who shot to fame with her controversial book “Lajja”, were not immediately known.
She has been requesting for a permanent residency in the country but the government has not taken any decision on the issue.
Taslima had left India on March 18 for Sweden after she was kept in a safe house in New Delhi for more than four months. Taslima, who had not been allowed to see any visitors during the period, had described her confinement as like living in “a chamber of death”. The author has not been pressing for visiting her residence in Kolkata this time as she was skeptical of Left parties’ response to her arrival, they said.
Taslima has lived in exile in many countries including France, Sweden and India since 1994. During her stay in India in the last five years, she has periodically travelled abroad with the last trip being in November when she was bundled out of West Bengal.
Recipient of various awards, Taslima was shifted from her Kolkata residence after violent protests marred parts of the metropolis over her controversial book “Dwihondito” (divided into two).
Certain references in the book had stirred a storm with some Muslim organisations demanding that she be asked to leave the state.
Taslima was packed off from Kolkata and shifted to Jaipur. The Rajasthan government decided to shift her to Delhi after some Muslim organisations threatened statewide protests against her stay there. — PTI
