Taslima Nasreen’s Indian residence permit extended

The Indian government has again extended the residence permit of controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen for one more year, an official said on Sunday.

The residence permit of the author, a citizen of Sweden, was on Saturday extended till July 2020.

The 56-year-old writer, physician, feminist and human rights activist’s permit has been extended regularly since 2004.

The permit was extended for three months on July 17, a day after she made a request to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Home Ministry extended the permit for one year when she took to Twitter to request Shah.

“Hon’ble @amitshahji, I sincerely thank u for extending my residence permit. But I’m surprised it’s only for 3M. I apply for 5 yrs but I’ve been getting 1yr extension. Hon’ble Rajnathji assured me I would get an extension for 50 yrs. India is my only home. I’m sure u’ll come to my rescue.

“Every time I apply for the extension of my Indian residence permit for 5 years, I get extension for 1 year. This time I applied for the extension for 5 years, I get for 3 months only. Hope Home Minister will reconsider to extend my residence permit for at least 1 year,” she tweeted on July 17.

After getting extension of the residence permit, Nasreen thanked the Home Ministry and her Twitter friends who had backed her case.

Nasreen left Bangladesh in 1994 in the wake of death threats by fundamentalist outfits for her alleged anti-Islamic views.

Since then she has been living in exile. The author had applied for permanent residency in India but the Home Ministry has not taken any decision over her plea.

She had to leave Kolkata in 2007 following violent protests against her works.