Rushdie to miss opening of India festival amid controversy

Jan 18, 2012, 8:56 GMT

New Delhi - Author Salman Rushdie will miss the opening of the Jaipur literary festival, organisers said Wednesday after protests by some orthodox Muslim religious groups.

'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,' event organisers said.

It was still not clear whether he would attend the five-day event.

The influential Darul Uloom Deoband seminary had opposed Rushdie's attendance because his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, was considered blasphemous against Islam.

The government of Rajasthan state, of which Jaipur is capital, also raised security concerns about Rushdie's presence.

Chief State Minister Ashok Gehlot met federal Home Minister P Chdiambaram over the issue Tuesday, the Hindu newspaper reported.

Gehlot said some Muslim organisations had urged the government to stop Rushdie from visiting Jaipur.

'No state government will want a law-and-order situation. I have intimated these sentiments to the federal government,' Gehlot said.

In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie to be killed, which led the author to spend more than a decade underground.

Rushdie, a British citizen whose ancestors came from the region of Kashmir, attended the Jaipur festival in 2007.