A group of protesters stormed a book stall in Dhaka, Bangladesh, over the display of books by exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin. The incident prompted Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to order a probe into the "disorderly behaviour." The incident unfolded at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Monday, with protesters surrounding the stall and chanting slogans. Police intervened to restore order, but the protesters then encircled the police control room, keeping tensions high. Following widespread criticism, Chief Adviser Yunus ordered authorities to bring those responsible to justice. The Bangla Academy has formed a committee to investigate the chaos and attack on the publishing house.
Nasreen accused Hasina of pleasing the 'Islamists', however, the same 'Islamists' have been in the student movement who forced the former Bangladesh PM to leave the country on Monday.
Taslima had to leave Bangladesh in 1994 in the wake of death threat by fundamentalist outfits for her alleged anti-Islamic views. Since then she has been living in exile.
The decision has been taken following an intervention of Home Minister Rajnath Singh as Taslima has been requesting the Indian government to further extend her visa.
The writer is in self-exile since 1994, when religious fundamentalists charged her with blasphemy and issued death threats against her.
'East has already closed the door for me. It would be wonderful if I am allowed to stay in Kolkata or anywhere in West Bengal,' she says.
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.
On Thursday, the city police had arrested three MIM legislators for their bid to attack Taslima Nasreen when she was in the city to release a Telugu translation of her controversial novel "Shodh."
The seventh part of controversial author Taslima Nasreen's autobiography, 'Nirbasan' (Exile), was on Wednesday released outside its scheduled venue at the Kolkata Book Fair as a mark of protest, after the organisers refused to go ahead with it following 'protests by fundamentalists'.
Slamming the West Bengal government for packing off controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it is a "total capitulation" before fundamentalist forces.
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.
Taslima should have been a little moderate in her writing. The way she writes has left her stateless and I feel very sad for the wrong things happening to her since the time her controversial writings came into print," says Teleya Rehman, director of Democracy Watch, an organistion fighting for the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh.
Nasreen has said she cannot return to Bangladesh because of the political opposition she faces.
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen ran into another controversy when protest by Muslim fundamentalists forced a Bengali channel to postpone the broadcast of a TV serial based on a story written by her.
He said that Taslima should tender a written apology for all her 'anti-Islamic publications as per the traditions of the Holy Prophet'. He also sought an assurance from the writer that in the future, she will desist from writing 'blasphemous' material.
"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.
It is not often understood that foreigners too have constitutional rights, one of most important of them being the right to life and personal liberty. Clearly Taslima's right to life and liberty have been violated by her detention. Unless the government has good reasons to justify her detention, she must be set free
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.
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin returned to India on Friday. The controversial writer was taken to an undisclosed destination.
The Centre has extended the visa of controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin for six months till February 16 next year.
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who returned to India from Sweden early this month, is likely to leave the country again for some destination in Europe as her movement is being restricted due to security concerns. The 45-year-old Bangladeshi writer, who has been a target of Islamic fundamentalists, returned to India recently from Sweden and was whisked away by security agencies to an undisclosed destination in Delhi.
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin is now in New Delhi to get her Indian visa extended since the validity of the travel document expires in August.
"The government of India has decided to extend the visa" of Nasreen, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said, but did not specify the duration of her fresh visa.
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.
Armed with a six-month extension of her visa to stay in India, controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen said on Friday that she is traveling to the United States in August to work as a research scholar at the New York University and will return to her 'adopted country' in January next year. Taslima expressed her gratitude to the Indian government for extending her visa till February 16.
Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen was not driven out of West Bengal as published in a section of the press and was free to return when she liked, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said in Siliguri on Sunday.
The clergy wants the writer in-exile deported from the country in a week
The ruling CPI-M in West Bengal on Wednesday night said controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen should "leave the state" if her stay disturbs the peace.
The home ministry is said to be awaiting clearance from some security agencies on her plea for extension of the permit.
After a 20-day sojourn in India mainly to get extend her visa, controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin flew to the United States on Thursday.
Controversial Bangladesh author Taslima Nasreen on Wednesday left India to an unknown destination and has reached London, as she voiced her bitterness against the Indian government accusing it of being no better than "religious fundamentalists". Talking to PTI from the Heathrow Airport before taking a connecting flight after she left New Delhi on Wednesday morning on a British Airways flight, the 46-year-old author refused to disclose where she was heading, saying she did
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen will be provided shelter in India, says the Centre.
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, whose visa was extended to stay in India beyond February 17, on Thursday expressed gratitude to the government, but remained concerned over curbs on her movement and freedom of expression.
Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen is penning her sixth autobiographical book Nai Kichu Nei (There is Nothing), but recent circumstances have not allowed her to continue writing.
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.
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.
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