By IANS
New Delhi/Jaipur : Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who moved from Kolkata to Jaipur Thursday — a day after protests in the West Bengal capital against her stay in India — is reliably learnt to be in a guest house outside Delhi.
“We have yet to decide on where to house her. We are assessing the situation in Kolkata and there is a possibility that she can return there once matters become calm,” said highly-placed intelligence sources.
“For obvious reasons we cannot name the place she is staying. She is slightly depressed by the turn of events in Kolkata but otherwise she is fine.”
The cabinet committee on security, which met here Friday, was expected to discuss the threat perception to the author and take a call on where to house her after her stay led to large-scale violence in Kolkata, forcing her to shift.
“But the committee could not arrive at a final decision. This was also because of the serial blasts that rocked Uttar Pradesh,” said sources.
The controversial writer had arrived in the Rajasthan capital Thursday evening and was staying in Hotel Shikha close to the chief minister’s office. She was expected to come to Delhi to meet home ministry officials but that did not happen.
Nasreen, who has been provided Y category security — it includes a police escort vehicle — spent the night in Jaipur with a heavy police deployment guarding the hotel.
According to sources, Nasreen was escorted by police as she left Rajasthan capital Jaipur. When media personnel tried to follow her vehicle, police put barricades on the Jaipur-Delhi highway and asked them not to follow her.
On Thursday as well, the local administration did not allow the media to interact with her till late in the night. Two five-star hotels also refused to provide accommodation to Taslima on the pretext that they did not have any room.
Other guests in Hotel Shikha where Nasreen spent Thursday night were forced to remain in their rooms and no person from outside was allowed to enter the premises.
“We were not aware of Taslima’s visit. In the evening, senior officials of Kolkata Police informed that Taslima was being sent to Jaipur and she has got Y category of security,” said Meghchand Meena, inspector general, security.
Rajasthan police took over her security responsibilities the moment she arrived there.
Nasreen has been living in exile for more than ten years now after a fatwa was issued against her in Bangladesh.
Since the 1990s, Nasreen has faced numerous threats from Islamic groups for her writings. Activists of Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) attacked her at a book release function in Hyderabad in August.
According to home ministry officials, Nasreen’s visa is valid till February next year.