Taslima’s visa extended, but warned on conduct

The Ministry of External Affairs, which announced the decision today, described Taslima as a “guest”. “Throughout its history, India has a tradition of offering hospitality to those who seek it. It has also afforded protection to those who have come as our guests”, the MEA spokesperson said.

But the government made it clear that it was “incumbent” on those welcomed as guests to remain sensitive to India’s traditions and to “not conduct themselves in a manner that either affects our relations with other countries or causes hurt to our secular ethos”. These were the same restraints that those in India followed and the country expected “nothing less” from its guests, the spokesperson maintained.

Talking to The Indian Express, Taslima said she has accepted the condition put forward by the Central government — she will have to remain the way she is now, secluded in an undisclosed place in Delhi.

“The Central government had told me that if I wanted them to extend my visa, I would have to stay the way I am living — in total seclusion. I had no other option”, the author said. “I have put in one request that a few of my friends should be allowed to meet me,” she said. The author, who was about to begin the fifth volume of her biography, also said that she had reconciled herself to the situation she was in.

“I have again started writing a little bit. As such I have got everything for my daily comfort — a TV set and newspapers. But I cannot go out nor can anybody come to my place. That is the thorn sticking in my flesh,” the author said.

The author was whisked away from her flat at Rawdon Street in Kolkata on November 22 after riots broke out in the city with Muslim fundamentalists demanding her expulsion from the country. She was first taken to Jaipur and later brought to Delhi where she is now staying in an undisclosed place under the protection of the Central government.

She said that she was still keen on coming back to Kolkata. “I hope one day I will be able to get back to Kolkata, which is my second home”, the author said.