Restraint please, Taslima

New Delhi: In a delicate balancing act, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee assured “shelter” in India to Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, but urged her to “refrain from activities and expressions” that may hurt the sentiments of Indian people and harm relations with friendly countries.

“Throughout history, India has never refused shelter to those who have come and sought our protection. This civilisational heritage, which is now government policy, will continue, and India will provide shelter to Ms Nasreen,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha.

“Those who have been granted shelter here have always undertaken to eschew political activities in India or any actions which may harm our relations with friendly countries,” Mukherjee added in the same breath while alluding to “an issue which has attracted considerable public attention in recent days”.

“It is also expected that the guests will refrain from activities and expressions that may hurt the sentiments of our people,” he stressed in a statement immediately after the customary Question Hour.

Reassuring the house about providing protection to Nasreen, Mukherjee said: “While these guests are in India, the Union and state governments provide them protection. This policy will also apply in Ms Taslima Nasreen’s case.”

Nasreen was first moved from Kolkata to Jaipur last week, a day after violent protests rocked Kolkata over her stay in India. She was then shifted to New Delhi early this week. The Intelligence Bureau has now kept her in a ‘safe house’ within a National Security Guards complex in Delhi.

Mukherjee’s statement comes amid the politicisation of the issue of Nasreen continuing to stay in India, with the BJP demanding the status of a political refugee and Indian citizenship for the exiled novelist.

The Sangh Parivar sought to capitalise on the controversy over Nasreen with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi inviting her to the state and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh demanding political asylum for her.

In various television interviews, Nasreen, whose novel Lajja (Shame) was banned by the Bangladesh government 13 years ago, has said that she would like to go back to Kolkata, which she considers her second home.

Fundamentalist Muslim organisations in West Bengal have, however, opposed the re-entry of Taslima in the state, hinting that her presence there would inflame religious passions again. ians

Source: mumbaimirror.com