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Muslim Activists Scuttle Rushdie Video Address
Henry Foy | January 24, 2012

Indian Muslims shout slogans against Salman Rushdie in Jaipur on Tuesday. (AFP Photo) Indian Muslims shout slogans against Salman Rushdie in Jaipur on Tuesday. (AFP Photo)
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Jaipur, India. Asia’s largest literature festival cancelled a televised speech by Salman Rushdie minutes before it was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, amid death threats to its organizer and fears of violent protests at the event by Muslim groups.

The issue of British-Indian author Rushdie, who cancelled his visit to the festival due to assassination threats, overshadowed the event. Muslim groups protested against his invitation and other authors accused the government of suppressing free speech.

“There are a large number of people averse to this video link inside this property. They have threatened violence,” Ramtap Singh, owner of the hotel in which the festival is held, told the large crowd that had assembled to listen to the author. “This is necessary to avoid harm to all of you.”

A death threat was received against Jaipur Literature Festival director William Dalrymple ahead of Rushdie’s speech.

Rushdie, whose 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses” is banned in India, cancelled his planned visit to speak at the festival in person after reported assassination threats against him.

“All of us feel hurt and disgraced. Artists have not been able to prevail,” said Sanjoy Roy, the festival’s producer.

Political parties are seen as unwilling to lend their support to the author for fear of offending Muslim voters ahead of an important state election in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, next month.

After organizers announced earlier on Tuesday that Rushdie’s address would go ahead, leaders of Muslim groups began to congregate at the main entrance to the festival, vowing to protest if the speech was allowed to go ahead.

“This is a big defeat. It’s a triumph for bigotry,” said Tarun Tejpal, editor of Indian news magazine Tehelka. Five authors have been investigated by police in Jaipur for reading from “The Satanic Verses” at the festival, and English PEN, a writer’s body, issued a statement late on Monday in their support.

“We felt that it was important to show support for Salman, who is often misrepresented,” wrote Hari Kunzru, one of the authors involved, in the Guardian newspaper. “This situation has arisen in India at a time when free speech is under attack.”

The five-day festival, which concluded on Tuesday, attracted over 70,000 visitors. Mumbai-born Rushdie vowed to do the video link when he pulled out on Friday, saying he had been told by Indian officials that a “mafia don” had issued weapons to two named hitmen to kill him.

Reuters