Salman Rushdie: Mamata Banerjee ordered police to block my arrival at Kolkata

New Delhi: After fringe Muslim groups took to the streets in Kolkata, protesting against his visit to the city, author Salman Rushdie on Friday said the truth of the matter was that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered the police to block his arrival.

The author cancelled a promotional event for his film 'Midnight's Children'. This came after the city police informed the organisers of protests planned against him. Rushdie, along with filmmaker Deepa Mehta and actor Rahul Bose, was supposed to promote the film at the Taj.

The Kolkata Police claims that it hadn't asked organisers to stop Rushdie from attending and had offered security to Rushdie and the film crew.

Fringe Muslim groups took to the streets in Kolkata, protesting against his visit to the city.

The police claimed that it was the organisers' decision to cancel the event. The film's publicity wing claims that Rushdie called off the event as he was tired of travelling.

Here's what Rushdie tweeted on Friday:

Also See

• Full text: Rushdie's statement on Kolkata visit row

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