Taslima shifted to undisclosed location by Centre

 After being hounded out of Kolkata and Jaipur, controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen was shifted to an undisclosed location late on Monday night, minutes after the Centre decided to take charge of her security.

The sleuths of the central security agency arrived at the Rajasthan House in New Delhi well past midnight and whisked away the 45-year-old writer to a safe place, official sources said.

The decision to take control of her security came barely hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting of the Union Cabinet.

Though the issue of Nasreen was not in the agenda, sources in the Government said it was discussed informally after which a decision in this regard is believed to have been taken.

Nasreen, who holds a resident visa valid till February 17, 2008, has been kept at a safe place and away from media glare, the sources added.

While being on the transit, the writer, who came to the city on November 23, spoke to some of her friends about the Centre's decision to take care of her security.

The Union Home Ministry has stated that as long as the writer holds a valid Indian passport, "she should be given appropriate security wherever she is. If necessary, the Home Ministry will speak to the concerned state governments to ensure this".

After violent protests rocked parts of Kolkata last Wednesday seeking her expulsion, Nasreen was packed off from her residence in the metropolis and shifted to Jaipur, much to the surprise of the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, which got the information only after she was put on a flight to the Pink City.

In spite of Nasreen expressing her willingness to return to Kolkata, the Left Front government in West Bengal refused to welcome her.

Later, the Rajasthan government shifted her to New Delhi after some Muslim organisations in Jaipur threatened to launch an agitation for her ouster.

The Bangladeshi author had said that she was forced to leave Kolkata at such a short notice that she did not have time to change her clothes. "I was forced to leave Kolkata and had to leave in the clothes I was wearing. You can well understand from this how quickly I was made to shift," she said.

The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist in West Bengal came under increasing attack on the Nasreen issue, with major national parties demanding protection and extending the visa of the Bangladeshi writer.

Main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party has also raised objections over the silence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi over the issue.