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Publication: Google News
Date: Mar 17, 2008
URL: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hDcOSnvmofKo-kDo9-dmw-cjZ_bw
Bangladesh writer Taslima Nasreen, hounded into hiding in India by death threats from Islamic militants, says she wants to go abroad and "leave this impossible situation", according to reports Monday.
Nasreen, living under federal protection at an undisclosed location in the Indian capital, had earlier said her health was suffering and she was "very depressed" over her situation, describing it as virtual "house arrest."
"I have to leave this impossible situation. I cannot interact with people. I cannot anymore take this stress which has led to hypertension," the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted her as saying.
"I want to lead a de-stressed life and I want to live life to the full," she said.
Nasreen, a Swedish passport holder, did not disclose where she might go but said many countries were willing to welcome her. She could go to Sweden, where she first fled in 1994 after receiving death threats from Islamic extremists in Bangladesh, other media reports said.
The reports said Nasreen met foreign ministry officials on Monday to tell them of her desire to leave India, but a ministry official declined to comment.
Indian news channel NDTV said no date had been fixed for her departure.
Nasreen, 45, was forced to leave the eastern Indian city of Kolkata in November after receiving death threats from radical Muslims who protested against "anti-Islamic" passages in her works, calling them blasphemous.
Nasreen said her ordeal in hiding had affected her health and she was suffering from heart and eye problems.
Reports said she may seek medical care abroad. Asked if she would return to India after that, Nasreen told PTI she would come back if she could lead a normal life.
Last month, scores of radical Muslims protested against India's decision to extend her visa and demanded her deportation. In August, a radical cleric offered "an unlimited financial reward" to anyone who killed her.
India extended Nasreen's visa in February, but warned the writer not to "hurt the sentiments" of India's religious communities -- a reference to the nation's 140 million Muslims.
Nasreen was forced to leave Bangladesh in 1994 after extremist Muslims accused her of blasphemy over her novel "Lajja" or "Shame", which depicts the life of a Hindu family persecuted by Muslims in Bangladesh.
She has been seeking permanent residence in India, where she moved after spending time in Europe and the United States, but so far the government has only granted her six-month visas, fearful of a Muslim backlash.
Nasreen had made her home in Kolkata in West Bengal state since 2004, guarded by Indian security, before she fled in November after receiving threats.