"As far as states are concerned, it's the primary responsibility of the states to provide security. But if the state government wants any assistance from the Centre in that respect, we will be glad to provide that," Mukherjee said.
"She is a guest and should behave like a guest. She should not do anything that would hurt the people's sentiment," Pranab said while denying a report that the author was virtually under house arrest.
Bengali intellectuals, who recently participated in a huge march in Kolkata to denounce the recapture of Nandigram, have floated a platform for a set of demands. These include immediate return of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to the city and no further pressure on farmers of Nandigram for setting up industry.
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Friday withdrew controversial lines in her autobiographical book Dikhandita, which had evoked strong protests from a "section of the people."
Nasreen, who was staying in New Delhi for the last two days at the Rajasthan House after being virtually hounded out of Kolkata last week, was whisked away by officials of the central agencies at around 1 am.
Her departure to Delhi at 0630 hours came amid threats by a Muslim organization -- the All India Milli Council -- to hold demonstrations in the city if the writer was kept in the state for long. Opposing her stay in the city, Milli state vice president Engineer Mohd Saleem said freedom does not mean that you can abuse any religion.
The government is contemplating imposing curfew in some areas of Kolkata at night.
The visa of controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was attacked by activists of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in Hyderabad earlier this month, has been extended for six months from Saturday.
The clergy wants the writer in-exile deported from the country in a week
Taslima (45) said she is also 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.
Thousands of people from all walks of life on Friday filed past the body of Mahasweta Devi to pay their last respects.
Taslima Nasreen was told by government officials that she will not be allowed to return to Kolkata, the controversial Bangladeshi writer said in an exclusive interview. Speaking from an undisclosed destination, Taslima said that she had told government officials, "I am not a criminal that I will not be allowed to return to Kolkata".
Welcoming Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen's decision to remove a controversial portion from her book Dwikhondito, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Friday said that the author was free to return to West Bengal.
"On Wednesday, I managed to speak to her on the phone and mind you, I was the first politician to do so. She told me that her movements were restricted and she was not allowed to move out," CPI leader Somnath Dasgupta told reporters.
The discussion has come at a time when the government has approached the International Atomic Energy Agency for discussing India-specific safeguards after securing the nod from the Left allies.
Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist denied that the West Bengal government had anything to do with controversial Bangladeshi writer Talima Nasreen moving from her temporary residence in Kolkata to Jaipur.
"I am still hopeful about my plea for citizenship being granted by the Centre," she said.
Taslima, in her article titled 'Let's Burn The Burqa,' criticised the wearing of veils and asked Muslim women to 'throw away the apparel of discrimination and burn their burqas.'
Senior Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Tuesday said that controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen can return to Kolkata if she chooses to, but the Centre will have to ensure her security. ''If she wants to return to Kolkata or elsewhere in West Bengal, she is welcome. But the Centre will have to ensure her security,'' he told reporters at his Salt Lake residence. He is the first CPI-M leader to speak in a sympathetic tone for the writer.
The Islamists are unhappy with Taslima, there is no confusion about that. But what baffles me what has that got to do with an issue as grave as Nandigram? I fail to see any connection between the two. Nandigram, Taslima; Taslima, Nandigram -- I give up. Which is exactly when realisation dawns.
"I am a Bengali and Bengal is my home and feel at home in Kolkata, I know I am loved by the people there," said Taslima. "What are the people of Kolkata saying? What are the intellectuals saying?" she asked on the demand for cancellation of her visa by certain Muslim groups.
Nasreen Munni Kabir releases her new book.
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Friday said she would prefer to stay in Kolkata or Delhi, a day after she was quoted as saying that she wished to shift to Tripura if she was not allowed to stay in Kolkata.
India is being represented by 487 athletes in more than 15 disciplines.
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Monday made an impassioned plea to her "second home" India to grant her citizenship and blamed the government of West Bengal, her current residence in exile, for delaying the process.
A one-year-old Pakistani boy has become the youngest liver transplant recipient in India after doctors here replaced his diseased organ with a healthy one donated by his grandmother.
Eight passengers from Rajouri and four from Poonch were shifted to a hotel in Jammu, where multi-tier security has been activated, the sources added.
'Of the people here in Europe who have watched The Story of Film: A New Generation, the most talked-about clip is the one from Ram Leela.'
Authorities want the second bus to start from Uri, as they think it is a much safer place than Srinagar.
SRK releases a documentary on himself, to be in stores on October 4.
Taslima has been in exile in Europe from 1994 after fundamentalists issued a fatwa against her for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
The writer is in self-exile since 1994, when religious fundamentalists charged her with blasphemy and issued death threats against her.
Shah Rukh Khan launched his documentary on DVD in New York.
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