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Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen who is currently in the national capital but will be leaving for a teaching assignment to a US university shortly, is disillusioned about her return to Bangladesh or India permanently in the near future. This, despite the fact that the UNESCO  Goodwill Ambassador and founder of South Asia Foundation, Madanjeet Singh, who was instrumental in impressing upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow her to return to India, has assured her that she will eventually get to choose her home.
Speaking from Paris, he said, "My advice to her is to be patient and concentrate on her writing as eventually she will surely go back to Kolkata and even return to Bangladesh!"

Taslima will return to India from her US trip before the expiry of her six-month resident ship permit. "Why is it that every time I have to leave?" asked the writer from Delhi where she is being hosted by the ambassador. She says, she has fewer restrictions this time and that her friends have access to her.

Encouraged by the Prime Minister’s assurance in a letter to Madanjeet Singh dated April 4, 2008, ‘recognizing Taslima’s right to remain in a country of her choice, namely India’, she returned to New Delhi as the ambassador’s guest to mark time until she could either go back home in Bangladesh or live elsewhere.
The PM had written, ‘Her preference was to stay in Kolkata but the West Bengal government apprehended that this might lead to a law and order situation. I cannot say whether this apprehension is valid but we nevertheless welcome her in Delhi. Taslima misses being in Kolkata.’

Taslima, who says she cannot concentrate on her writings because of the missing anchor of a home in her life, said, "I hope the Prime Minister’s promise is kept and I am able to choose my adopted home soon."
But human rights activist Sujato Bhadra feels her return to Kolkata is not and will not be a smooth passage since forces are still active against her return. "What we are trying to convey to her is that she is always welcome to Kolkata but that desire is not sufficient as certain political factors are standing in her way. Our appeal to the government is clear - she should be allowed to stay in any place in India as she prefers and as long as she desires."

After Taslima’s "solitary confinement" to a small room in Delhi had left her traumatized and she had left India, it was the 84-year-old UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador who had given her refuge in his home in France. And ever since he has been requesting the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and even Jyoti Basu to pave the way for her return to India.

Many countries, including France have offered the writer a home. In fact, the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, had made her an honorary citizen of Paris before the French Legislative Assembly in July last year. "You are at home here, in the city where it was proclaimed that men are born and remain free and equal and nobody can be condemned for their beliefs," the mayor had said.

But Taslima feels she cannot call the West her home. "I want to stay here."

EOM