Mumbai: Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who landed at Aurangabad’s Chikalthana airport on Saturday evening for a three-day visit to the city from Mumbai, was sent back after supporters of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) protested against her visit, shouting slogans of ‘Taslima Go Back’.
A mob of around 500 persons had gathered outside the hotel where she was to stay and later they thronged the airport shouting slogans against the exiled Bangladeshi writer. Police stopped her from stepping out of the airport. After she was told about the situation, Taslima returned to Mumbai, officials said.
The incident unfolded at around 7.30pm, when Taslima landed at Aurangabad. The protests, led by AIMIM leader Imtiyaz Jaleel, had been going on outside the airport since around 6.30pm, according to the cops.
Deputy police commissioner, (zone II), Aurangabad, Rahul Shrirame told The Asian Age, “Information about her scheduled visit was conveyed to us around 4.30pm, following which we put in place a team for her protection and to secure the hotel where she was to stay. But the protestors got to know about her visit and they assembled at both locations.”
Amid the protests, the police met Taslima inside the airport terminal and told her that the visit could trigger a law and order situation in the city as people opposing her presence had already learnt about it and were sloganeering at the airport. She then decided to return to Mumbai and cancelled her three-day visit to Aurangabad. However, no complaint has been lodged with the police.
The Mumbai police also confirmed that no complaint had been lodged by the author with them. However, they unwilling to disclose if Taslima was in Mumbai or had left the city for some other location.
Last month, the union home ministry had extended her visa for a year, with effect from July 23, 2017. She is a Swedish citizen now and has been getting Indian visa on a continuous basis since 2004. The author is living in exile since she left Bangladesh in 1994, because of threats from fundamentalist elements.
