Jamiat welcomes Taslima's move to remove controversial portion from book

"This is a good step and we are happy that good sense has prevailed. If she had taken this step before, then a lot of situations could have been avoided," general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, said.

Human rights activist Sujato Bhadra, who had moved the Kolkata High Court twice to get the ban on the controversial paragraphs of the book lifted, however, termed Taslima's move to withdraw the pages as 'unfortunate'.

"This is unfortunate. She has possibly done this under tremendous pressure. As Taslima wants to stay in India, and particularly in Kolkata, she has decided to withdraw the controversial paragraphs," Bhadra said.

"If she has done it out of her free will and without fear, then I have nothing to say," she added.