Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has been barred from entering India till May 31, apparently to stave off any problems here ahead of Lok Sabha polls, according to her website.
Nasreen, who had to leave India in October last year in view of violent protests by certain Muslim fundamentalists, has been asked by the government here not to come back till May 31 if she wants resident permit.
One of the pre-conditions set by India for giving resident permit is that "she must not enter India before 31st of May (by this time the general elections in India will be over)," said the website of the 46-year-old writer against whom fundamentalists have issued 'fatwas' for writing a book 'Lajja'.
She has also been asked not to interact with the media, it said.
Nasreen, who according to the website, is in the US at present, did not reply to e-mail queries sent by PTI on the issue.
Nasreen, who had been living in Kolkata since 2000 after being forced to flee her country, had to leave India in March last year after fundamentalists in West Bengal staged protests and indulged in violence.
The Bangladeshi author came back on August 8 last year but was not allowed to go to Kolkata. She stayed in Delhi for about two months before leaving the country on October 15 at the advice of Indian government.
Agitated at being asked to leave India, Nasreen had questioned this country's secular credentials.
Government had asked her to leave to avoid any law and order problems because of resentment by fundamentalists.
Being asked to leave India last October, the Bengali writer of much talked-about books like 'Amar Meyebela' (My Girlhood), 'Utal Hawa' (Wild Wind) and 'Dwikhondito' (Split-up in Two) had expressed her anger over the development in an e-mail interview to PTI.
"They (India) could not give shelter to a person whose entire life has been spent in the cause of secular humanism, a person without land or home, who regarded India as her land and Kolkata as her home...," Taslima had said.
"I was shocked to see that not a single political party, organisation or institution protested against the way I was treated (in India). Not many individuals, who are regarded as the standard bearer of secularism, have spoken for me," said ex-physician-turned-feminist author.
