taslima nazreen in delhi

9 Feb 2010

EXCLUSIVE

TASLIMA NASRIN BACK IN DELHI

From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: Controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin (48) is back in Delhi to get her residential permit renewed to stay in India despite being repeatedly thrown out in the last two years, sending a clear message that she is no more welcome to have refuge in India.

She flew into the capital two days ago from the United States where she has been putting up since after she was thrown out by India in August. Her residential permit was extended on the condition that she leaves immediately after the permit was renewed and that she must not use the permit to reside in India.

Those whom she has been in touch here say she had the compulsion to come this time as otherwise her residential permit expires later this month. The permit is renewed every time for only six months.

Because of "fatwas" on her head from the Islamic fundamentalists of both India and Pakistan, the security agencies in Delhi have taken Taslima into their protective custody but officials handling her do not know how to handle her repeated demand that she wants to go to Kolkata where she had a home once as the West Bengal government does not want hER anywhere in its territory.

Taslima, who is a qualified physician and a human right activist, has been blacklisted in both Bangladesh and West Bengal and no Bengali or English newspaper is ready to publish her writings for fear of attacks by the fundamentalists.

Her friends say she had come to India last August to find out if she could live in Delhi, if not Kolkata, but the government of India refused to allow her to live any where in India.

According to her personal website < http://taslimanasrin.com >, she had come to India in February last year also before her residence permit expires, "but the world's largest democracy laid down that she could get an extension of her residence permit for India only if she gives an undertaking that

-- She would leave India (and she must show her flight ticket to prove she is leaving) before 17th of February ( the day her residence permit would expire),

-- She must not go to Kolkata,

-- She must not interact with media, and

-- She must not enter India before 31st May next ( since by this time the general election in India would be over).

The website says Taslima had no other alternative but to leave India silently and has been living since then in the United States.

Back in 2007, she was attacked by the Muslim fundamentalists in Hyderabad and they later issued a fatwa against her, setting an unlimited reward on her in a public meeting in Kolkata. She was forced to live under virtual house arrest  in Kolkata and was constantly asked by the West Bengal Government to leave the state.

Following violent protests by the Muslim fundamentalists demanding  her deportation from India, she was ultimately thrown out of Kolkata by the state government. She was dispatched to Jaipur, but she was bundled out from there as well.

She was ultimately brought to Delhi and kept in an undisclosed location where she was forced to live under house arrest for seven and a half months as the security agencies guarding her did not allow her to move any where. She was ultimately asked to leave India in March 2008.

At that time, Taslima applied for the renewal of her Bangladesh passport again. And again  it  was denied to her. She even requested Bangladesh Government to issue a ''no visa required' stamp or at least a tourist visa for Bangladesh on  her European passport. But this was also not granted. 

She returned to India in August, 2008. She was made to stay in Delhi and was not allowed to go to  Kolkata, not even for two days to  pack her bags and leave. She was forced to quit her establishment in Kolkata. Also her residence permit was extended on the condition that she leave India within a few days after her permit was renewed.

Her website says Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni has been frequently telling the media that his government has no problem in allowing Taslima to enter her country

Dipu Moni, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, has been frequently telling the media that the Bangladesh Government has no problem in allowing Taslima to enter her country, but in reality she is not allowed to enter own country.

After Dipu Moni's public statements, Taslima applied to renew her Bangladesh passport so that she could enter Bangladesh, but the Bangladesh Government did not respond. She also tried to get a Bangladesh visa on her European passport. Even that has been denied to her.

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