Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has said that she misses the love and affection of the people of Kolkata and longs to return home as she waits for a nod from the West Bengal government.
Facing an uncertain future, Taslima was secluded in the Rajasthan House in Delhi under a tight security cover for the third straight day on Sunday after she was hounded out of Kolkata on Thursday and hurriedly shifted from Jaipur to New Delhi the next day.
"I am a Bengali and Bengal is my home and feel at home in Kolkata, I know I am loved by the people there," said Taslima.
"What are the people of Kolkata saying? What are the intellectuals saying?" she asked on the demand for cancellation of her visa by certain Muslim groups.
"I am not a political person. I am an ordinary human being who writes for equal rights. I don't write about religion, I write about human rights, women rights and secular humanism," she said.
Nasreen said she wanted to spend the rest of her life at Kolkata among her 'own people' and continue her literary pursuits.
Asked by the All India Progressive Women's Group's general secretary Kumudini Pati in Delhi if there was any invitation to her from the West Bengal government, Nasreen said there has not been anything of this sort.
"There is no information reaching her directly. She can only watch television to find out what is happening outside," Pati said. The West Bengal government has remained non-committal about the return of the 45-year-old writer whose visa has been extended till February 2008.
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