Exiled writer Taslima Nasreen from neighbouring country Bangladesh is worried about her residence permit these days. Taslima Nasreen, who has been living in India since 2011, says that her residence permit expired on 27 July and has not been renewed by the Indian government yet. During a special conversation with Aaj Tak Bangla, Taslima Nasreen said, “She likes living in India but it has been about one and a half months and her residence permit has not been renewed yet.”
No response from Indian government
During a special conversation, she said that she is not getting any answer from the Indian government on this issue. She said, ‘I do not know whom to talk to, who in the Home Ministry will contact me regarding this. I do not talk to anyone. I keep checking my status online but have not received any confirmation yet. Even now the status on the website is showing updating. This never happened before. Every time the permit was received before it was cancelled.’ Let us tell you that after exile from Bangladesh, Taslima lived in Europe for a long time, then she decided to live in India. Earlier she used to get permit only for a few days but since 2011 she has been living continuously in Delhi.
Is the current situation in Bangladesh responsible for this?
Is the current situation in Bangladesh becoming an obstacle in permit extension? On this Taslima Nasreen says, “I have nothing to do with Bangladesh and its politics. I am already living in India. I live here as a Swedish citizen. And my permit was cancelled even before the current Bangladesh controversy. There was a problem in 2017 as well but at that time there was a technical problem.”
Taslima says, “People think that I have connections with the government and politicians but it is not so. Because if I do not get the permit, I will die completely, now I am in no condition to go anywhere.”
Let us tell you that for the first time Taslima Nasreen had to face opposition in Bangladesh in 1990. She was accused of criticizing Islam. After this, she had to face a fatwa and massive opposition in Bangladesh in 1994, after which she first had to go into hiding and finally had to leave the country. Since then Taslima has been in exile. In 1998, she went to Bangladesh for a few days but during the government of Sheikh Hasina, she was again forced to leave the country. Taslima holds Sheikh Hasina equally responsible for this along with Khalida Zia. She says that both of them did not allow her to stay in Bangladesh and encouraged Islamic fundamentalists.
Exile and then being forced to leave Kolkata
After living in Europe for several years, Sheikh Hasina came to India during 2004-2005. Initially, she settled in Kolkata, West Bengal. She hoped that by staying close to Bangladesh, she would continue to experience her homeland from Kolkata. She became happy and settled down in her world.
Kolkata was not unknown to her but in 2007, pressure mounted on her and she had to leave Kolkata as well. Taslima says, ‘Earlier, in the Left Front government at that time, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had first banned her book ‘Dwikhandito’ and later, when some fundamentalists created a ruckus, she was expelled from the city. After staying in Jaipur for a few days, Taslima Nasreen currently lives in Delhi.’
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