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It is for Centre to decide on Taslima’s place of stay: Yechury

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday made claims and counter-claims on the issue of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

While the Congress said the Centre was kept in the dark on Ms. Nasreen being moved from Kolkata to Jaipur and then to Delhi, the CPI(M) said it was the responsibility of the Centre to grant and extend her visa and decide on the place of her stay.

The Congress said the West Bengal government had raised objections to the grant of visa to the writer.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury said that Ms. Nasreen went to Jaipur on her own and as per the law it was for the Centre to decide in which State she should stay.

Maintaining that she was not forced to leave Kolkata, Mr. Yechury said the West Bengal government had no role to play in deciding where she should stay.

At a news briefing, Mr. Yechury repeated the party stand that it was the prerogative of the Centre to grant and extend her visa, impose any conditions on her and decide where she should stay.

He said:

“Once the Central government takes a decision, it is incumbent upon that State government to provide her with appropriate security.

“Whether she should remain in India or not and whether her visa should be extended or not is a decision to be taken by the Central government. It is beyond the scope of any State government. Let the Central government decide on this.”

The CPI(M) leader criticised the BJP for adopting “double standards” when it came to the return to India of veteran painter M.F. Husain and on the issue of Ms. Nasreen. “M.F. Husain is not allowed to return to the country because of cases filed against him by RSS, VHP and other affiliates. He is said to have hurt the sentiments of a certain community. Why this double standard?”

But the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, in a veiled criticism of the Left Front government of West Bengal, said: “Nobody has the right in the country to take her [Taslima Nasreen] here and there without the Centre’s permission.”

Mr. Singhvi said the Centre was examining the request to extend Ms. Nasreen’s visa, valid till February 17, 2008, adding that the West Bengal government had raised some “legitimate objections” that the Centre later overruled and allowed her to stay on.

He said there were rules for granting such visas and cited the example of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

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