01-30-2008, 10:39 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Taslima's visa yet to be renewed </b>
Pioneer.com
Kanchan Gupta | New Delhi
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has informed dissident Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, kept under constant watch at a 'safe house' in the National Capital Region, that<b> no decision has yet been taken to extend her visa</b>, which expires on February 17.Â
<b>Nasreen, disallowed all contacts with friends and barred from stepping out</b>, even to receive the Prix Simone de Beauvoir from French President Nicolas Sarkozy while he was in Delhi, <b>is suffering from acute depression made worse by the absence of any news about her visa being extended</b>.
She had to be admitted to the CCU at AIIMS on January 26 after her blood pressure plummeted. <b>"I had requested for a cardiologist earlier that day as I was not feeling well, but apparently no doctor was willing to come to the 'third house' where I was to be checked," </b>Nasreen told The Pioneer.
"Finally, a (Government) doctor came and prescribed me three medicines. After I took those medicines, I fainted and fell down," the writer added. Nasreen was then taken to AIIMS and admitted to the CCU where doctors monitored her blood pressure and stabilised it. She was released on Tuesday.
Nasreen, who holds a MBBS degree and gave up medicine to become a full-time writer, says the drugs that were prescribed to her had "an adverse effect", triggering a violent reaction. "I have now been advised to stop all medication and not worry too much. But how can I stop worrying?", she said.
Last week, a news agency put out a story that Nasreen's visa had been extended. When she asked a Home Ministry official, who is her minder, whether this was true, he told her, "It has not yet been decided."
She now says that although doctors at AIIMS have advised her to "reduce stress", she is constantly stressed.
<b>"Here I am unable to meet anybody, not allowed to talk to friends, step out... I have requested meetings with friends, including a Member of Parliament, in the 'third house' (where she is supposed to meet people), but my requests have not fetched a positive response," </b>Nasreen said.
Nasreen was forced to leave Kolkata, where she had set up home for the past couple of years, after Muslims instigated by a Congress leader, Idris Ali, ran riot on November 21. She was brought to Delhi via Jaipur and has been in the custody of Central security agencies since November 23 in a 'safe house'
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Pioneer.com
Kanchan Gupta | New Delhi
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has informed dissident Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, kept under constant watch at a 'safe house' in the National Capital Region, that<b> no decision has yet been taken to extend her visa</b>, which expires on February 17.Â
<b>Nasreen, disallowed all contacts with friends and barred from stepping out</b>, even to receive the Prix Simone de Beauvoir from French President Nicolas Sarkozy while he was in Delhi, <b>is suffering from acute depression made worse by the absence of any news about her visa being extended</b>.
She had to be admitted to the CCU at AIIMS on January 26 after her blood pressure plummeted. <b>"I had requested for a cardiologist earlier that day as I was not feeling well, but apparently no doctor was willing to come to the 'third house' where I was to be checked," </b>Nasreen told The Pioneer.
"Finally, a (Government) doctor came and prescribed me three medicines. After I took those medicines, I fainted and fell down," the writer added. Nasreen was then taken to AIIMS and admitted to the CCU where doctors monitored her blood pressure and stabilised it. She was released on Tuesday.
Nasreen, who holds a MBBS degree and gave up medicine to become a full-time writer, says the drugs that were prescribed to her had "an adverse effect", triggering a violent reaction. "I have now been advised to stop all medication and not worry too much. But how can I stop worrying?", she said.
Last week, a news agency put out a story that Nasreen's visa had been extended. When she asked a Home Ministry official, who is her minder, whether this was true, he told her, "It has not yet been decided."
She now says that although doctors at AIIMS have advised her to "reduce stress", she is constantly stressed.
<b>"Here I am unable to meet anybody, not allowed to talk to friends, step out... I have requested meetings with friends, including a Member of Parliament, in the 'third house' (where she is supposed to meet people), but my requests have not fetched a positive response," </b>Nasreen said.
Nasreen was forced to leave Kolkata, where she had set up home for the past couple of years, after Muslims instigated by a Congress leader, Idris Ali, ran riot on November 21. She was brought to Delhi via Jaipur and has been in the custody of Central security agencies since November 23 in a 'safe house'
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