Government decides to extend Taslima Nasreens visa

The government has reportedly decided to extend the visa of controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, but has warned her that she must respect the wishes of the people of India.

New Delhi, Feb.13 : The government has reportedly decided to extend the visa of controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, but has warned her that she must respect the wishes of the people of India.

Nasreen's Indian visa was last extended for six months on August 10, 2007. The extension of her visa is due this month.

Taslima's anti-Islam writings have infuriated the radical Muslim groups and they have been demanding that the writer's visa should not be extended and that she be asked to leave India.

Taslima, who has been staying at an undisclosed destination in Delhi on security grounds, after violent protests by a little-known Muslim group, has reiterated that she was tired of staying at the safe house and seeking a return to Kolkata.

Last week, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had sent a notice to the Union Home Ministry and the Delhi Police questioning the Bangladeshi writer's charge that she was being kept in "solitary confinement."

The NHRC asked Delhi Police and the Union Home Ministry to reply within two weeks on Nasreen's isolation.

A group of writers had submitted a joint complaint to the commission and said that Nasreen was "virtually undergoing solitary confinement."

It was alleged that Nasreen was not able to even communicate with anyone except government officials and was undergoing great agony.

"The author was entitled for protection of her life and liberty and there was no basis to treat her in that manner," the petitioners said in their complaint to the NHRC.

The commission said if the allegations are found to be true, they "seriously affect human rights."

After a protest led by some radical Muslim groups, demanding her ouster from Kolkata turned violent in November last year over the publication of her book, Dwikhondito (Split in Two), which contained some objectionable portions, Taslima was moved from Kolkata to Jaipur, and then to Delhi.

ANI