Attempting to put an end to the Taslima Nasreen controversy, the Centre on Tuesday finally decided to take matters into its own hands, taking custody of the Bangladeshi writer in the wee hours and shifting her to a ?safe location? within the Capital.
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday also asserted that the government would make a statement in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and answer charges from the opposition that it was maintaining a silence on the Taslima controversy. The government?s decision to intervene came hours after a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister late on Monday. The move, however, was initiated only after the issue turned into a political hot patoto with the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal seeking to wash its hands off the affair, contending that it was the Centre?s responsibility and the BJP trying to gain political mileage.
Official sources disclosed that Nasreen, facing death threats from fundamental Muslim outfits, was shifted by IB officials in an early morning operation to a ?government safe house?. Nasreen, tracked by news channels, told them over the phone that she felt safe in the new location but was not being allowed to disclose her location. The Bangladeshi writer, currently with a valid residential permit till February 17 next year, expressed the view that she wanted to stay in India. ??I lost Bangladesh. I don?t want to lose India,?? she told the newschannel. Her application for permanent resident status in India is already pending with the external affairs ministry.
The writer, who was staying in Kolkata for the last three years, had to leave West Bengal last week following violent protests by fundamental organisations. Despite the writer?s wish return to Kolkata, the Left Front government in West Bengal has been cold to the idea. The Bangladeshi author had said that she was ?forced? to depart from Kolkata at such a short notice that she did not have time to change her clothes. ??I was forced to leave Kolkata and had to leave in the clothes I was wearing. You can well understand from this how quickly I was made to shift??. She was whisked to Jaipur, but the Rajasthan government then moved her to the Rajasthan house in the capital, where she was staying for the last four days.
Meanwhile, the Sangh Parivar stepped up the batting for the “cause” of Taslima and reiterated the demand for providing “political asylum” to the writer. The RSS supremo KS Sudarshan told PTI that the writer should be given political asylum in the country.
The BJP, in the meantime, said the government’s move to shift her to another place was “strange.” “We would like to know where she is,” deputy leader of the BJP in Lok Sabha VK Malhotra said. He also criticised Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson for being silent on the issue.