RUSHDIE-LD REAX 2
PTI | 08:01 PM,Jan 24,2012Zafaryab Gilani, legal advisor of Personal Law Board, Zafaryab Gilani, legal advisor of Personal Law Board, said, "We had only demand that he should not be allowed to come to India because he, according to us, has committed an offence under Indian Penal Code." BJP said the entire episode exposed the "worst communal vote-bank politics" of Congress. "Rushdie episode has exposed Congress for its worst communal vote-bank politics...the move to ask four authors to pack up and leave Jaipur was also an attack on freedom of speech," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. "The attempt to block the video link also must be viewed from vote-bank politics angle. It also exposed Congress of its real intentions to impose censorship on internet communication," he added. Rubbishing BJP charge that it was "match fixing" by the Congress and the intelligence agencies, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said, "there is no question of match fixing. Satanic Verses has been banned by the Government of India and the ban continues. "To quote rom a banned book whether it violates any law has to be seen by the state government." Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy said the Central government should be thoroughly condemned for the episode. "The fight for democratic freedoms can succeed only when there is eternal vigilance and a commitment to defend even those with whom we do not agree," he said. The Rushdie affair at the five day meet and the way it ended sparked a flurry of emotions and wide ranging reactions from people who witnessed the events at what is billed at Asia's largest literature festival. While journalist-author Tarun Tejpal termed it a momentary setback in the fight against bigotry, lyricist Javed Akhtar said it was a wakeup call for people who have been selective in their protest against it. "I don't think it is a setback. It is rather a wakeup call," said Akhtar. "You should have woken up much earlier. You are sitting in a state where a film Jodha Akbar passed by the censor board was not allowed to be released and there was no protest. You are sitting in a country from where its most popular painter was thrown out without much protest," he said. PTI WAJ SDA RBL EKA
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