By IANS
New Delhi : In yet another sign of fissures in West Bengal’s ruling Left Front coalition, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Friday condemned the state government’s decision to send exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen to Rajasthan.
“It is a condemnable decision to send her to Rajasthan,” RSP leader Abani Roy told reporters, adding that Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatacharya “should not have allowed this to happen”.
“She was given shelter in Bengal by the chief minister and I do not know who has put pressure on him to send her to Jaipur,” Roy replied when asked whether the chief minister acted under pressure from Muslim fundamentalists who were demanding her expulsion from the state.
“I do not think it has been done at the behest of the centre,” said Roy, whose party is a constituent of the Left Front combine in West Bengal.
Nasreen was moved to Jaipur Thursday after violence in Kolkata led to the army being called in Wednesday. The trouble had started when a local group, the All India Minority Forum (AIMF), put up a road blockade protesting against Nasreen’s extended stay in India.
The author was provided ‘Y’ grade security by Rajasthan authorities at the request of their West Bengal counterparts.
Nasreen left Jaipur for Delhi Thursday morning amid security concerns after a Muslim outfit, All India Mili Council, threatened to hold demonstrations if the Bangladeshi writer was kept in the state for long.
The RSP’s criticism of the Left Front government comes close on the heels of the party’s strong stand on the West Bengal government’s handling of the violence in Nandigram earlier this month, which was allegedly instigated by the armed CPM cadres to “liberate” the area from the influence of rival political forces and the Maoists.