Hasim Abdul Halim, Speaker of the Assembly, whose assembly constituency of Entally witnessed the worst violence on November 21, welcomed the decision. “We congratulate her. She had not withdrawn it earlier although the book was banned by the state government,” he said. Asked when she planned to return to the city, Nasreen said: “I sincerely hope to be in Kolkata before the Book Fair. I want to stay in Kolkata, I want to stay in India.”