Taslima Nasreen upset as govt extends her visa for only 2 months

The government’s refusal to immediately extend her visa for one more year has left Bangaldeshi writer Taslima Nasreen upset.

The government’s refusal to immediately extend her visa for one more year has left Bangaldeshi writer Taslima Nasreen upset.

HT Image

The government is freshly scrutinsing Nasreen’s application for visa before taking a call on her long term stay. Pending a decision in this regard, her visa has been extended for two more months in the interim.

After the decision, an upset Taslima tweeted: “Indian govt has cancelled my resident permit that I started getting since 2004 (sic). Issued a temp (sic) tourist visa for 2 months. Beyond my imagination.”

She added that she would be leaving for a lecture in Oxford and would be unable to return to India without the visa.

Nasreen left Bangladesh in 1994 after receiving death threats from Islamic fundamentalists who claimed her works, especially ‘Lajja’, were meant to insult their religion. She has been living in exile in the US, Europe and India since then and holds a Swedish passport now.

Union home ministry sources clarified that she has not been denied one-year visa as of now. She had applied for resident permit but her visa has been extended only for two months in the same category from August 1 onwards. “As of now, a verification process of Nasreen’s visa application is on”, they said.

In 2010, Nasreen was in the same situation over her visa. However, the government relented and her visa was extended then.