NGO takes Taslima Nasrin to US for ‘safety’

It said Nasrin was recently named as one of the next targets for murder by al-Qaeda-linked extremists, which has prompted the CFI to “assist in transporting her safely to the US, alleviating the immediate threat to her life.”

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Nasrin has been specifically named as an imminent target by the same extremists responsible for the murders of Avijit Roy, Washiqur Rahman and Ananta Bijoy Das, the NGO said. Nasrin arrived in Buffalo, New York on Wednesday (May 27), it said.

When contacted, CFI’s Paul Fidalgo said this was an initiative taken by the organisation. “We were concerned about her safety and we found out about her. She never approached us,” Fidalgo told The Indian Express.  He said CFI has no “absolute” answer on how long she will be staying in the US as it “depends on a lot of factors like she finding resources to sustain herself or finding employment” among other things.

After being named as a target by jihadi groups, Nasrin, who has been living in exile in India, had sought an immediate meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.  On May 14, she tweeted: “My free thinker friends are getting killed in Bangladesh. Terrorists who killed them threatening me. Wanted to meet HM, no appointment I got.”