Bose said, when two Central ministers had sought chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee’s view on the issue, he told them if the Centre thought it advisable for her stay, she could stay.
He said, “I don’t want to speak eleborately on the role played by the Centre on Taslima’s stay in West Bengal.’’
But if her stay created problem for peace, she should leave the state, Bose who is also the chairman of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal, told reporters.
Bose’s comment came after the city witnessed large scale violence when a mob attacked the police injuring 35 personnel and damaged and torched vehicles during a three-hour shutdown called by a minority fringe group in protest against the Nandigram violence and demanding cancellation of the Nasreen’s visa.
BJP supports stay
But the controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen got support from an unusual quarter - the BJP. The saffron party said Nasreen, against whom several Muslim outfits had issued fatwas, should be granted permanent visa and asylum just like the Dalai Lama. The main Opposition party’s argument was that several anti-Hindu writers have been granted asylum in the country in the name of freedom of expression.
Taslima disturbed
Meanwhile, Taslima Nasreen was deeply ‘disturbed’ over violent incidents in different parts of the city on the twin issue of cancellation of her visa and protests over incidents in Nandigram. The writer however, was not personally available for comment. But friends close to the author said that Nasreen was ‘deeply dismayed’ over the incidence of violence and was not taking any calls.
“She is not picking up our calls and her security official says she has remained glued before the TV set. She is very disturbed,” her close confidante and publisher said.
Several attempts to contact the writer, in exile since 1994 after fundamentalists in Bangladesh issued fatwa against her alleging blasphemous writing, proved futile as she did not respond to calls or smses.
Nasreeen’s six-month visa is slated to expire on February 17, 2008.
