The Hindu : National : All-round support for Taslima

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Saturday, Nov 24, 2007
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All-round support for Taslima

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: A number of political parties and intellectuals have publicly defended Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen’s right to live and work in India, which has been her home for the last several years after she was hounded out by her country for writings that had angered Islamic fundamentalists.

The issue was raised both inside and outside Parliament on Friday. It related to her plight – she left Kolkata hurriedly on Thursday after the All-India Minority Front demanded that her visa be cancelled — and went to Jaipur. A spokesperson of the Union Home Ministry said Ms. Nasreen was in India on a valid visa and it was the duty of the State government or Union Territory where she was staying to provide protection to her. If necessary, he said, the Home Ministry would issue an advisory to ensure her safety.

Academics and intellectuals, under the banner of Sahmat, protested the “externment” of Ms. Nasreen from Kolkata.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has espoused her cause and demanded that she be given Indian citizenship. Its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, told reporters that the Rajasthan Chief Minister was not taken into confidence before Ms. Nasreen was ‘sent’ to Jaipur. It was a matter of propriety. She added that her party was in favour of the Centre arranging for her shelter and safety.

In the Lok Sabha, Gurudas Dasgupta of the Communist Party of India defended her right to stay anywhere in the country. The Centre should, in the highest traditions of India, ensure that she was given shelter and protection.

Raising the issue during zero hour in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Dasgupta said it was in the “most tragic circumstances that she had to leave the Kolkata of culture and the Kolkata of tolerance.”

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters that the West Bengal government had “no role to play” in Ms. Nasreen leaving Kolkata. The Centre, which had given and extended her visa, should decide where she should stay.

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