15, Feb 2016

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 14, 2016, (PTI):
Renowned Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen feels killing people for eating beef is not intolerance but a ‘heinous crime’ and it should be stopped.

“It is not that suddenly intolerance has started here… India as a country is not intolerant as India has Constitution and laws which do not support intolerance. But some people are intolerant everywhere…because of strict laws you cannot practise intolerance. Here, so many secularists protested against intolerance, that is a good sign,” she said.

“Killing people for eating beef is not intolerance but a heinous crime. It needs to be stopped,” Taslima, who was in Kerala recently to participate in the Kozhikode Literary Festival, told a Malayalam television channel.

Asked if she wants to be a citizen of India, now with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being at the helm, Taslima said she feels that the Indian government is “neutral and secular”.

She said she would be more than happy if government allows her a residence permit. “If I am allowed to reside in India, I will be more than happy,” she said, adding, the central government’s recent decision to grant Pakistani singer Adnan Sami, Indian citizenship, was a “good sign”.