Taslima Get Indian Permit

Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Saturday was granted residential visa by India following her meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking long-term extension of her residence permit earlier in the day. Earlier, Nasreen had expressed her anguish after the government on Wednesday refused her a one-year visa giving instead a temporary permission to stay in India for two months.

Following her outburst on a social networking site, support for her has been pouring from various quarters with Press Council of India Chairperson and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju demanding permanent visa for the 52-year-old who has been living in exile since 1994.

Nasreen, however, expressed her surprise over intellectuals from Kolkata — her “home” remaining silent on the issue.

Exiled from Bangladesh in 1994 for “hurting religious sentiments” with her novel “Lajja”, Nasreen took refuge in the city in 2004. But after violent protests in the city November 2007, the erstwhile Left Front government whisked her away to New Delhi where she has been living since then.

Eager to come back to Kolkata, Nasreen said so long as the Mamata Banerjee government in the state continues to accede to the whims of religious fanatics, her return to the city is not possible.