Salman Rushdie may visit Jaipur after all: reports

New Delhi: According to different reports, author Salman Rushdie may not actually be asked to stay away from India during the Jaipur Literature Festival. Although the Rajasthan government has raised concerns over security in the wake of the Darul Uloom Deoband’s demand that Rushdie be banned from India as he had hurt sentiments of Muslims in the past, the Central Government may not be inclined towards making an actual request to Rushdie to not to visit India.

As some reports say, Rushdie is now expected to pay a quiet visit to the five-day festival that begins on January 20. While the organisers of the festival said they stand by their invitation to the 'Midnight's Children' author, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot made it plain to Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday that his visit was being resented by the local people, and could lead to trouble.

A revised schedule of the five-day literary gathering and its sessions made no mention of Rushdie's appearance. However, the author figures in the list of speakers.

However, a revised schedule of the 5-day literary gathering and its sessions made no mention of Rushdie's appearance.

Earlier the media reported, Salman Rushdie was being 'persuaded to stay away' from the five-day Jaipur Literature Festival while according to its organisers the news is 'fiction'.

The festival organisers came out with an ambiguous statement, leaving everyone guessing. "Salman Rushdie will not be in India on January 20 due to a change in his schedule. The festival stands by its invitation to Mr Rushdie," festival producer Sanjoy K Roy said.

Earlier in the day, Gehlot met Chidambaram and told the Home Minister that the people of Rajasthan "do not want" Rushdie to come and had made representations to the state government about their feelings.

"I don't have any official information about whether Rushdie is coming or not. There is no official communication to us... There is a reaction among the locals, they don't want Salman to come," Gehlot told reporters after the meeting.

Gehlot said his Chief Secretary was in touch with the organisers of the literature festival from January 20 to 25.

"No state government will want a law and order situation. I have informed the Centre about the prevailing sentiments," Gehlot said.

The announcement of Rushdie's visit to the popular festival had invited the wrath of India's top Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, which appealed to the government to decline the author a visa as he had hurt sentiments of Muslims in the past.

Following this, Rushdie had taken to micro-blogging site Twitter to say that he did not require a visa to visit India.

Asked to comment over Gehlot's opposition to the visit by the 'Satanic Verses' author, Darul Uloom Vice Chancellor Maulana Abul Qasim said this was good news.

"Its a victory for democracy in India. Democracy is alive in India if the government listened to concerns voiced by so many people," he said.

Qasim said the seminary wanted Rushdie's entry in India prohibited "forever", as also that of another controversial writer Taslima Nasreen.

"Salman has not tendered an apology, nor destroyed his book... So the reason for our concern remains," he told a news channel.

However, artists and intellectuals expressed worry over the government's capitulation on the issue.

"This whole controversy is unfortunate. Rushdie has come here before and gone back... Why is government so weak-kneed. This creates a tradition of harassment," said prominent artist-playwright Girish Karnad.

Ashok Vajpeyi, the former director of Lalit Kala Academi said, "It's a sad day for democracy and literature".

Rushdie was earlier scheduled to speak on January 20, and 21, at different sessions at the literature festival.

The author had earned the wrath of Muslims worldwide due to the alleged blasphemous content in his novel 'The Satanic Verses' which was published in 1988.

The novel, which was banned by India, had sparked outrage in the Muslim world, including a fatwa against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on February 14, 1989.

Rajasthan Home Minister Virendra Beniwal also said that the priority of the state government was to maintain law and order.

Asked about Gehlot's reservations against Rushdie's visit to India, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said that while the state units of the party can have their separate views on the matter, the decision on such issues has to be taken at Centre's level.

In Jaipur, activists of People's Union for Civil Liberties held a protest demanding that Muslim groups should withdraw their objection against Rushdie's visit.

"Our small protest is in order to assert our rights and condemn this attitude of responding to groups who are opportunists and illiberal and narrow in their outlook and are willing to snatch somebody else's constitutional and human rights.

"It is the state government's responsibility to provide Rushdie protection and security," an activist said.

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