Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 09, 2008
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Feb 09, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Taslima Nasreen Kolkata: With just eight days left for the expiry of her visa, a worried Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen hopes that India will not “turn its back” on her and that it will grant extension on time to help her stay on. Ms. Nasreen (45) said she is pinning her hopes on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement in Parliament about India’s reputation for hospitality, and that it welcomed guests as long as they respected the sentiments of people. “I am always thinking about my stay. I am hopeful with eight days to go before the expiry of my visa, the government will extend it on time,” she told PTI on phone from Delhi. If she was thrown out, “it will amount to murder of my most cherished ideals, perhaps a fate far worse than I could meet at the hands of any fundamentalists,” said Ms. Nasreen who was moved out of Kolkata on November 22 last following violence after a minority organisation sought cancellation of her visa. “If India turns its back on me I have nowhere to go, no means to survive. Even after all that has happened, I still believe, I still dream, that for a sincere, honest, secular writer, India is the safest refuge, the only refuge,” said Ms. Nasreen. She has been living in exile since 1994 after fundamentalists in Bangladesh issued a fatwa against her. The author also said she still believed that she should be able to spend the rest of her life in the country which she loved. “India is my country, my home.” The writer cannot meet her friends or well-wishers and can only contact them through e-mail or phone. Asked how she was spending her time, Ms. Nasreen said that books and newspapers were her sole companions. She also tried to write but was sometimes unable to concentrate. “At times I write for hours in the morning, while at times I sit by myself,” she said. To a question, Ms. Nasreen said she could not complete the draft of the autobiographical Nei Kichu Nei (There is Nothing). The book was originally scheduled to be published at the Kolkata Book Fair, which was not held after a Calcutta High Court directive. She appreciated the support from UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh and personalities like Mahasweta Devi and Muchkund Dubey. — PTI
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