Taslima flees Islamic death threats

Truly a moment of shame. Well done to our dhimmi hijda's in the Government of India. Pranab Mukherjee and UPA have 'won'. By the way, where are all ear-jarring, loud mouth 'seculars', 'freedom of expression' peddlers, gone into hiding?
I propose a solution:
1. Burn the constitution and use it as a toilet paper.
2. Next time someone talks about secularism or freedom of expression, shove a foot in his mouth and give him a sound thrashing.
I'm appalled.

From correspondents in New Delhi
March 20, 2008 12:05am

Article from: Agence France-Presse

BANGLADESHI writer Taslima Nasreen has left India after being hounded into hiding by death threats from Islamic extremists, her publisher and friends say.

"Taslima Nasreen flew out of New Delhi this afternoon to Europe for medical treatment,'' her publisher Sibani Mukherjee said.

She said Nasreen had asked her not to reveal the author's exact destination.

Close friends also told said she had left India, and some Indian television stations reported that Nasreen was headed for Canada.

Nasreen was forced to flee Bangladesh in 1994 after radical Muslims accused her of blasphemy over her novel Lajja (Shame') - which depicts the life of a Hindu family persecuted by Muslims in Bangladesh.

The 45-year-old gynaecologist-turned-author - whose predicament is similar to that of Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie - had been seeking permanent residence in India, where she moved after spending time in Europe and the United States.

But New Delhi had stalled the request, fearful of a backlash from the country's 140 million-plus Muslims, and has given the openly atheistic author only six-month visas.

The writer was forced to flee the West Bengal state capital of Kolkata, which she adopted as home in 2004, in November after receiving death threats from radical Indian Muslims and had since been living in hiding in New Delhi under Indian government security protection.

The Indian Government said it had no immediate comment on Nasreen, who also holds a Swedish passport.

The writer said on Tuesday that she hoped to leave for France or Denmark for medical treatment, saying the months in isolation had sent her blood pressure soaring and affected her heart and eyesight.

"I am living like a caged bird,'' she said. "I've become very weak. My eyesight is on the wane. I fear I will become blind unless I move out of here and get my eyes treated.''

Nasreen said she was shadowed at all times by intelligence personnel, was not allowed to see friends, denied timely medical treatment and was living under "virtual house arrest".{Wah, Mr Pranab Mukherjee...jihadis roam the streets while your govt goes after soft targets}

She had sought to go back to Kolkata but the West Bengal State Government said it did not want her back, fearful her return would stir more trouble.

In a statement on Tuesday, Nasreen said Indian authorities had "constantly pressured me mentally to leave the country".

"I was determined I would not leave this country. When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body. In this they succeeded by ruining my health, which leaves me with no other alternative but to leave this country,'' she said.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition, has accused the Congress-led Government of forcing Nasreen to leave India because it is worried about losing Muslim voter support with just over a year to go before national elections.