Taslima Nasrin wants extension of her Indian visa

Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin is now in the capital to get her Indian visa extended since the validity of the travel document expires in August.

Taslima, who has been in and out of the country after she was dramatically bundled out of West Bengal in November 2007 in the wake of protests by radical Muslim groups, came from London in the wee hours of Sunday and was immediately whisked away to a safe location.

The 47-year-old doctor-turned writer is also trying for a permanent residency in the country. Her visa is valid till August 16.

The future plans of the writer who shot to fame with her controversial book 'Lajja' were not immediately known.

The government has already made it clear that Taslima's visa cannot be extended beyond August 16 prompting her to take
the help of some of the country's prominent writers.

At the time when her visa was extended before, Taslima was told this would be the last extension under the category (miscellaneous) she had applied the visa, official sources
said today.

Taslima, a Swedish passport-holder, had sought visa under the miscellaneous category in 2005 and it has since been extended initially for a year and later for six months. The visa under this category cannot be extended beyond five years.

The writer has been told that she could stay in some other country for a few days and later apply afresh for the visa under the same category, pending her request for a permanent residency in the country, the sources said.

The writer had earlier expressed her desire to visit Kolkata but it has been turned down on the ground that radical elements may try and harm her, the sources said. 

Taslima had earlier left India on March 18, 2008, for Sweden after she was kept at an undisclosed house here for more than four months. She had not been allowed to see any visitor during the period and described her confinement as "a chamber of death".

Recipient of various awards, she was shifted from her Kolkata residence after violent protests in the eastern metropolis over her controversial book "Dwikhondito" (divided into two).

Certain references in the book had stirred a storm with some Muslim organisations demanding that she be asked to leave
the Left-ruled state.

She was bundled out of West Bengal in November 2007 in the wake of violent protests by radical Muslim groups there against her. 

Taslima has lived in exile in many countries including France, Sweden, the US and India since leaving her home in Dhaka in a cloak of secrecy in 1994. During her stay in India in the last five years, she has periodically travelled abroad with the last trip being in August 2009.