'Twitter is so powerful!' Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen’s residence permit extended for one year

New Delhi: Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen’s residence permit has been extended for one year by the Union home ministry, officials said on Sunday.

Taslima, a citizen of Sweden, has been getting residence permit on a continuous basis since 2004. A home ministry official told PTI that her residence permit has been further extended for one more year till July 2020.

The 56-year-old writer was last week given a three-month residence permit following which she took to Twitter requesting Home Minister Amit Shah for extending it for one year.

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

“Everytime i apply for the extension of my Indian residence permit for 5years, i get extension for 1year. This time i applied for the extension for 5years, i get for 3 months only. Hope Honourable Home Minister @HMOIndia will reconsider to extend my residence permit for at least 1year,(sic),” she tweeted on July 17.

Following the extension of the residence permit for one year, Taslima again took to Twitter. “Twitter is so powerful ! On July16 I tweeted my residence permit wasn’t extended. On July 17 it was extended, but only for 3 months. So many Twitter friends requested MHA to extend it for longer period. It’s extended for 1yr today. Thanks MHA to change decision. Love my Twitter friends,” she said.

Taslima had to leave Bangladesh in 1994 in the wake of death threat by fundamentalist outfits for her alleged anti-Islamic views. Since then she has been living in exile. She has also stayed in the US and Europe during the last two decades. However, on many occasions she had expressed her wish to live in India permanently, especially in Kolkata.

Taslima had also applied for permanent residency in India but no decision has been taken on it by the Home Ministry, another official said. The writer also had to leave Kolkata in 2007 following violent street protests by a section of Muslims against her works.

Taslima had said that if she is not able to stay on in India she will suffer from an identity crisis which will affect her writings and championing the cause of women’s rights.