New Delhi : The government’s permission for exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to stay on in India expired today amidst indications that it is all set to be extended.
“The application (of the writer) to extend her residence permit is in the process. If it is extended, extension in such cases is from the date of expiry,” a senior Home Ministry official said, adding no final decision has been taken yet.
The ministry is said to be awaiting clearance from some security agencies on her plea for the extension of the permit. Taslima (52), living in exile since she left Bangladesh in a cloak of secrecy in 1994 in the wake of threats to her by fundamentalist groups for alleged blasphemy of Islam , was given a one-year visa by the government in 2014 and allowed to stay in India till today.
Taslima, a citizen of Sweden, has been getting an Indian visa on a continuous basis since 2004. She now stays in Delhi.
Reacting to the development, Taslima told PTI that this was the first time that her plea for extension of duration of residence permit has not been cleared even on the day of the expiry.
She said she went to the Foreigner Regional Registration Officee (FRRO) here today with her passport certain in the knowledge that her residence permit has been extended but “was stunned when they told me that it is not yet done”. “It has never happened before in the last 11 years.
My extension of residence permit used to come well ahead of the expiry of the duration of the previous one. This time too, I had applied for extension a few months ago,” she said. “I’m worried now. Will I be able to stay in India which I have always considered as my second home outside Bangladesh?” Taslima said.
