Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was hounded into hiding by hardliners, said she would remove a passage from an autobiography which some Indian Muslims found offensive.

Taslima, who had been living in Kolkata since 2004, said she hoped the move would enable her to live in peace in India.

“I am withdrawing the controversial lines from my book Dikhandito,” she told NDTV news channel.

“The book was written in 2002 based on my memories of Bangladesh in the 1980s during which time secularism was removed from the Bangladesh constitution,” she said.

Taslima was accused of hurting religious feelings and the book was banned in Bangladesh and India’s neighbouring West Bengal state. “Because I value secularism I wanted secularism to remain in the Bangladesh constitution,” Taslima said.

“I didn’t write the book to hurt anybody’s sentiments,” the 45-year-old said without giving details of exactly what the passage mentions.

“Some people claim that sentiments have been hurt. It was not intended. I hope there will be no controversy anymore and I will be able to live peacefully in India.”

Senior Left leader Gurudas Dasgupta said Taslima had taken the correct step, which will help facilitate her return to Kolkata.

The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind chief has appealed for an end to the protests against Taslima.  The central government has pledged to protect Taslima and moved her to a safe house outside New Delhi at the weekend after thousands took to the streets in her adopted home Kolkata demanding her expulsion.

At the same time, the Congress party-led government warned Taslima not to make any statements that might “hurt the sentiments of our people” — a reference to India’s 140mn-plus Muslims.

Taslima had earlier faced flak for her 1994 novel ‘Lajja’ which depicts violence against minority Hindus in Bangladesh.

Nasreen fled her homeland Bangladesh in 1994 and has been living in Kolkata since 2004 after spending time in Europe and the US.

The author, who describes herself as a “secular humanist,” says she longs to return to Kolkata, which is Bengali-speaking like her homeland.

She holds a Swedish passport but has been seeking permanent residence in India. So far the government has only granted her six-month visa extensions.

On Thursday Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said Taslima would be provided full security if she opted to stay in the state.

Chouhan, who was talking to the media on the completion of his two years in office, said: “Complete security would be provided to her and her honour will be protected if she comes here.”