Taslima to return to India in January

Taslima expressed her gratitude to the Indian government for extending her visa till February 16 and said she would return to the United States to continue to work as a research scholar at New York University.

"I just want to say that I am grateful to the Indian Government for extending my residential permit for another six months. Currently, I am working as a research scholar at New York University. The fellowship will end in December this year. I have to leave for New York but will be back in January to continue living  in India, my adopted country", she said in an e-mailed statement.

Asked on phone when she would be going to New York, the 46-year-old author said "I will travel sometime this month".

The government had on Thursday extended Taslima's visa for six more months after consulting various security agencies.

The writer, hounded by hardline Islamic groups, had returned to India recently to seek extension of her visa and is now residing at an undisclosed location.