Taslima Nasreen thanks Amit Shah day after SOS over residency permit

Indicating positive news on the renewal of her India residency permit, Bangladeshi author and activist Taslima Nasreen on Tuesday profusely thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Nasreen, who fled to India 20 years ago, had on Monday requested Shah for the extension of her residence permit in India. The renewal request came even as the caretaker Bangladesh government seemed to be accommodating extremist and radical elements. Nasreen has been in exile for three decades due to threats from Islamist radicals in Bangladesh.
“A world of thanks,” posted Taslima Nasreen on X. The post was peppered with folded-hands emoji, indicating her gratefulness to Shah.

She posted a frantic message on Monday, revealing her worry over the issue, and calling India her “second home”.
“Dear Amit Shah ji Namaskar. I live in India because I love this great country. It has been my second home for the last 20 years. But the Ministry of Home Affairs has not been extending my residence permit since July 22,” Taslima Nasreen wrote on X on Monday.
“I’m so worried. I would be so grateful to you if you let me stay. Warm regards,” she added.

Taslima’s worry is genuine. The author-activist has been hounded by Islamists in Bangladesh. A fatwa was issued against her in 1993.
Since the fall of the government of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, the caretaker government of Muhammad Yunus, backed by the military, has been accommodating Islamists.
The ban on Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was lifted, and there have been incidents of targeted violence against Hindus, a minority community.
Nasreen has voiced her opposition to the Yunus dispensation, calling it “illegal”.
“Sheikh Hasina did not resign from her prime Minister post, and she is still alive. Therefore, Yunus government is illegal,” Nasreen said in a post on Tuesday.
On August 5, when violent protests dislodged Sheikh Hasina, ending her 15-year rule, she fled to India.
Taslima Nasreen has been vocal for decades and documented the violence against the minority communities in Bangladesh in her books, including Lajja (Shame) and Nirbachita Kalam.
The fatwa of 1993 was issued against her for Lajja, in which she wrote about the persecution of a Hindu family in Bangladesh.
The threats against her forced her into exile. She has previously lived in Kolkata and Jaipur, and then settled in Delhi. She has been residing in India since 2011.
Nasreen holds Swedish citizenship, and has been granted a long-term residence permit by India.
The Bangladeshi author had previously too voiced her concerns over the lack of communication from government officials regarding the status of her residence permit.
In September, she told AajTak Bangla, India Today’s sister channel, that her application status online shows “updating”, which she described as unprecedented.
That is why Taslima Nasreen posted an SOS, requesting Amit Shah on Monday. Indicating a big relief on the long-term residence permit, she thanked Shah on Tuesday. Seems India will remain home to the exiled Bangladeshi writer for some more time.