Tension in Shimoga, Hassan over Taslima’s article

Tension prevailed in Shimoga and Hassan on Monday following protests over the publication of a translated version of an article by Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen in a leading Kannada paper.

In Shimoga, the hometown of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, protesters burnt 12 two wheelers, two tractors, two autorickshaws and pelted stones, police said.

The violence, that left an unspecified number of people injured, started after Holi celebrations earlier in the day, police said.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Shimoga and Hassan.

In Hassan, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s hometown, tension broke out after unidentified persons pelted stones at some commercial establishments during a procession. Some shops were burnt in both places.

Hassan SP Sharat Chandra said the protest was against the article published in the newspaper. Seven persons have been arrested in connection with the incidents in Hassan, he added.

Additional DGP (Law and Order) A.R. Infant said additional reinforcements have been sent to Shimoga.

The government had extended by one year the visa for Ms. Taslima, who has also moved for permanent residency in India, her ‘adopted’ home after leaving Bangladesh in 1994 in the face of death threats from fundamentalist groups against her writings.

Taslima seeks permanent residency as Govt. extends visa

Government has extended by one year the visa for controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen who has also moved for permanent residency in India.

The extension of visa came a day before its expiry, relieving the writer of tension about her future stay in India, her “adopted” home since leaving Bangladesh in 1994 in the face of death threats from fundamentalist groups against her alleged blasphemous writings.

“I’m grateful to the Indian Government that my visa has been extended,” Ms. Nasreen told PTI on Tuesday night and expressed the hope that the government would grant her permanent residence permit for which she has moved a fresh application.

“I got the visa extension stamped on my passport today and it has come as a relief after days of tension since my return to India”, the writer said.

Ms. Nasreen said she was happy that unlike in the past she has not been verbally told this time to go abroad again after her visa extension and that is why she has decided to stay put in this country.

“It’s good that I don’t have to roam in the West as a vagabond. After all, I have adopted India as my country and I have nowhere else to go. India is my place of work”, she said.

The author said Indian government has always told her that it grants “shelter to anyone seeking shelter” and expressed the hope that she would get permanent residence in the same spirit.

“If India doesn’t grant me permanent residence, where else do I go? Should I again be going abroad and move around like a vagabond?” Ms. Nasreen asked.

However, she said “the bad news” is that she has got a letter from the Union Home Ministry that this was the last time she was given the visa extension.

“If that is the case, I fervently hope I get permanent residencey. After no less a person than Pranab Mukherjee had assured that India would give me shelter”, Taslima said. PTI PAL SKL PAL 02162221

Taslima returns to India, seeks visa extension

Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has returned to India, seeking an extension of her visa.

The 47-year-old writer, who has been a target of Islamic fundamentalists, is currently staying at an undisclosed destination, official sources said.

Taslima had earlier requested for permanent residency in the country, but the government is yet to take a decision on the issue.

Her desire to visit Kolkata has also been turned down, as sources said radical elements may try and harm her.

Earlier, she was dramatically bundled out from West Bengal in November 2007, in the wake of violent protests by radical Muslim groups there.

Taslima has lived in exile in many countries, including France, Sweden, the US and India, since leaving her home in Dhaka in secrecy in 1994.