Thaindian News

Jaipur/New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) The much-touted video address by Salman Rushdie on the concluding day of the Jaipur Literary Festival Tuesday hangs in the balance as the Rajasthan government said it would not allow this without prior permission.

Meanwhile, a few complaints were filed in different magisterial courts in Jaipur and Ajmer against festival organiser Sanjoy Roy, and four authors — Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi - for reading out excerpts from the banned “The Satanic Verses”.

The courts are expected hear the complaints on Tuesday.

In New Delhi, a war of words broke out Monday over the Rushdie controversy, with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the Congress of “match fixing” and the ruling party hitting back, and saying the BJP was playing a “dangerous” game on a sensitive issue.

The Rajasthan government’s reaction to the proposed video link conference came a day after the Mumbai-born author accused the Rajasthan police of hatching a plot about hitmen wanting to eliminate him to keep him away from the Lit Fest where he was expected to be the star attraction.

The state government was quick to rubbish the charge and asserted that the Intelligence Bureau had given the inputs and it was not concocted.

A senior Rajasthan government official said no permission has been sought by the festival organisers to set up any video conferencing with Rushdie. The official asserted that the government “would not allow this without a prior permission.”

“The organizers or the authors will have to assure us that no part of the banned book will be read out through video conferencing,” a senior police officer told IANS.

Sanjoy Roy, one of the organizers, however, said the video conference was on. “As of now, according to what I know, it is. No official has spoken to us so far raising objection,” he said.

Rushdie’s absence from the literary festival has made him the invisible ghost here, with several prominent writers decrying it as a shame and disappointment. On the opening day of the festival Friday, some authors defiantly tried to read out excerpts from the book. On Sunday, they were quietly asked by the organizers to leave as there was a fear of their arrest.

Rushdie is the author of “The Satanic Verses” which allegedly blasphemes Islam and attracted a fatwa from rightwing Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeinini two decades ago. The celebrity author had scrapped his visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival, saying in a statement that he had received information from intelligence sources in Rajasthan and Maharashtra that “paid assassins” had been hired to eliminate him if he came for the literary jamboree.

In New Delhi, the Rushdie controversy became a political football with the BJP and Congress trading charges.

“It is a clear case of match fixing between intelligence agencies and jehadis in which the Congress government of Rajasthan played a supportive and active role,” said Ravishankar Prasad, a senior BJP leader.

He accused the Congress of using the issue to gain political mileage ahead of crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh where the Muslims comprise nearly 18 percent of the population.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley asserted that the government should have provided protection to Rushdie rather than stage managing his absence with a concocted death threat.

The Congress struck back. “It is much more than a case of the pot calling the kettle black or the thief accusing the policeman… BJP’s talking about communalism is worse than devil quoting the scriptures. It is utter hypocrisy of that party,” said party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi.’

Singhvi claimed that the Indian government had made it clear there was no ban on Rushdie visiting the country as he is a PIO card holder and does not require a visa.

By raking up the Rushdie issue now, the BJP is “flogging a dead horse,” he said.