By IANS
Patna : The Indian Muslim Development Foundation (IMDF), a Bihar-based organisation, has urged the president, prime minister and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi to provide security and Indian citizenship to Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.
“Taslima Nasreen should be provided adequate security and allowed to stay in India. Her visa should not be cancelled. Instead, she should be given Indian citizenship immediately,” IMDF director M.I. Khan said here.
Khan said it is an age-old Indian tradition to treat a guest like god and Taslima should be treated accordingly.
The IMDF said the government should not repeat its past mistake of banning Salman Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses” due to protest by a section of Muslims.
“Is the issue of Taslima more important than education, illiteracy, poverty and self-employment for the common Muslims?” Khan asked.
He said that some people with vested interests have misguided Indian Muslims.
“It is shocking that due to protest by some Muslims in Kolkata, the Left Front government in West Bengal has persuaded Taslima to leave the city,” Khan said.
Taslima was asked to leave Kolkata following violence during an agitation Wednesday by the All India Minority Forum — a little-known Muslim organisation — demanding the cancellation of her visa.
“The government of India should not bow to fundamentalists or some publicity seekers opposing Taslima Nasreen’s stay in the country. It is high time the government sent a strong message across the world by protecting her rights,” the IMDF director said.