The Hindu : Front Page : Taslima Nasreen shifted to Delhi

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Saturday, Nov 24, 2007
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Taslima Nasreen shifted to Delhi

Staff Reporter

West Bengal was reluctant to take her back, says Rajasthan government

New Delhi: Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen was brought to the Capital from Jaipur by road on Friday night and lodged in a guesthouse here. Ms. Nasreen, who has been provided “Y” category security, was accompanied by Rajasthan police.

Though the Delhi police neither confirmed nor denied her presence here, they have made security arrangements for her stay in the Rajasthan Guest House.

Ms. Nasreen reached Jaipur on Thursday evening from Kolkata in the wake of outbreak of violence there. Sunny Sebastian reports from Jaipur:

Earlier in the day, Rajasthan authorities tried to fly Ms. Nasreen back, on the first available flight, to Kolkata, even as their West Bengal counterparts expressed their reluctance to accept her. The Rajasthan authorities kept her as their “guest” at an undisclosed location.

“We have no alternative to having Taslima Nasreen as a guest of the government of Rajasthan due to the reluctance of West Bengal to allow her go back to Kolkata,” said a government statement.The authorities had decided to talk to their West Bengal counterparts about the plan to send her to Kolkata which, according to the officials here, was based entirely on the author’s wishes. “The West Bengal police simply refused to countenance this idea, leaving us with no option,” the authorities said.

The Rajasthan government said the West Bengal authorities did not consult them before flying Ms. Nasreen to Jaipur on Thursday evening.

“The West Bengal government virtually presented us with a fait accompli,” an official maintained.

Director-General of Police A.S. Gill, who spoke to his counterpart in West Bengal, was given the impression that the writer was visiting Jaipur to attend a literary function.

“When cross checked it was found that no such event was scheduled,” the authorities here said. They said the West Bengal police made use of the services of an office bearer of the Rajasthan Foundation — an organisation of people of Rajasthani origin — in Kolkata to arrange for boarding and lodging to Ms. Nasreem.

Justifying its attempt to send her back, the Rajasthan government said it had started receiving information on fundamentalist elements in the State making preparations for staging concerted protests against her stay here. According to the police officials, Ms. Nasreen expressed her desire to be sent back to Kolkata on being apprised of the law and order situation.

The government said Ms. Nasreen did not have her passport with her and gave the impression that since she had been virtually put on a plane at a very short notice, it had been left behind. She was carrying her residential permit issued by FRRO in Kolkata. The visa documents of her companion, Faizal Kabir Moman, were found to be valid only till November 24.

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