New Delhi
28 November 2007
India will provide shelter to Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen,
the government told Parliament.
Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha that India has never
refused shelter to those who have come and sought her protection. Minister of State of
External Affairs Anand Sharma read out Mr Mukherjee's statement in the Rajya Sabha.
"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," Mr Mukherjee said.
He added a caveat, though, that those who have been granted shelter here have always
undertaken to eschew political activities in India or any actions which may harm India's
relations with friendly countries.
"It is also expected that the guests will refrain from activities and expressions that may
hurt the sentiments of our people," he said, adding that the Union and state governments
will continue to provide security to Ms Nasreen.
"While these guests are in India, the Union and the state governments provide them
protection. This policy will also apply in Ms Taslima Nasreen's case," Mr Mukherjee
said, concluding his statement.
For its part, the CPI(M) maintained that the Taslima episode was a handiwork of anti-CPM
forces that tried to "fuel an anti-CPM campaign" and used fundamentalists to "champion
[the campaign] against Marxists".
Mohd Salim of CPI(M) said that the controversy was "artificially jacked" by political
forces on the extreme Left and extreme Right, to isolate the CPI(M). "All opposing
political forces ... from the extreme Left to the extreme Right, ganged up against the Left
and some even used fundamentalists and anti-socials to foment trouble. They wanted
some people to be killed to make it easy for them to foment further trouble but the people
of Kolkata refused to oblige them," he said.
He blamed the opposition Trinamool Congress and Congress in West Bengal for the
recent violence in Kolkata and criticised them for opposing the calling in of the Army to
maintain peace in the troubled area. "Many (of these state leaders) thought that if some
people were killed in these violence, there will be retaliation .... and the Marxists will be
isolated but there was no retaliation even after such hooliganism," he added.
Asked about the "eviction" of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen from Kolkata, Mr
Salim said: "There was no eviction. Nobody was evicted [by the Left Front Government.]"
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