Taslima: Pen plea

Calcutta, March 20: Bangladeshi novelist and poet Taslima Nasreen has said she wants to stay in Calcutta to keep her creative instincts from dying.

Taslima, whose visa to stay in India expired last month, today renewed her appeal to the central and state governments for granting her citizenship or a residence permit.

?If I cannot stay in Bengal, then the writer in me will die gradually. All my literary works are in Bengali language and the characters are Bengali,? the writer, who had been issued a death threat by fundamentalist outfits in Bangladesh over her writings, told The Telegraph.

?I can lead a comfortable life in the European Union but my creativity will perish if I cannot stay here. Western countries have saved my life, now India can save the writer in me,? she said.

?I applied for Indian citizenship because I have deep-rooted love for this country. Besides, West Bengal speaks my tongue and that is another attraction for me.?

Referring to her appeal to the Union home ministry to grant her citizenship, Taslima said: ?I have not yet received any communication either from the central or state government.?

?I have read that the state government is against granting me citizenship and I am deeply shattered. If I stay here, the communal harmony will not be disturbed as I am a firmly secular person,? the writer said.

Taslima, who has not been able to get an appointment with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, is planning to approach former chief minister and CPM leader Jyoti Basu and the Union home and external affairs ministries for granting her citizenship appeal.

However, she said she has not thought of writing to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. ?I have not given a thought to it.?

She also wants to meet the chief minister at Writers? Buildings after she failed to get an appointment at Nandan. ?I have tried to meet him informally but could not. Now I will try to meet him formally by making an appointment at Writers?,? she said.

Taslima claimed that she maintained a good rapport with the chief minister and had met him several times before her Dwikhandita, an autobiographical sketch, was banned in the state. ?We never met after that. But I believe that if we can talk, the misunderstanding will be solved,? she said.

The writer, who holds a Swedish passport, came to Calcutta on a six-month visa, which expired on February 28. She has applied for a three-month extension.