Salman Rushdie facing threats of Muslim reprisals over Jaipur Literature Festival

NEW DELHI: Government has ruled out barring Salman Rushdie from visiting India in the wake of a demand by a top Islamic seminary to cancel his visa even as the controversial author said he does not need a visa to come to this country.


Official sources said 65-year-old Rushdie holds a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card which entitles him to visit this country without a visa.


The sources said since PIO card guarantees any such person hassle-free travel without any document, Rushdie is not required to apply to any authority of the government of India seeking permission for his proposed visit to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival this month end.


"He had travelled to India in the past using PIO card. We have never stopped him. We have no intention to stop any PIO card holder to travel his or her home country in future either," a source said.


Rushdie remained unfazed over the demand by Darul Uloom Deoband to block his planned trip to India and suggested it was misplaced.


"Regarding my Indian visit, for the record, I don't need a visa," posted Rushdie on microblogging site Twitter after Deoband demanded that the Indian government cancel the author's visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past.Indian-origin Rushdie also has a British passport.


His remarks were supported by party leaders in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state which is home to the seminary and is currently holding a state election campaign in which Muslim votes could decide the outcome. India's ruling Congress Party has targeted the state's Muslim voters with pledges of new quotas for government jobs and university places.
Rajesh Dixit, general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, the state's second largest party, said the author's visit must be prevented to avoid insult to India's Muslims.
"Those who cause tensions between communities should not be allowed to come," he said. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said Sir Salman's arrival was "not proper" during the Uttar Pradesh state election campaign.
Sir Salman, who was born in Mumbai and holds Indian travel documents, remains committed to appearing at the festival, he said.
The author posted a defiant response on Twitter. "Re: my Indian visit, for the record, I don't need a visa," he said.
William Dalrymple, the writer and Jaipur Literature Festival co-director, said the row was a "monumental tragedy" and the result of a "game of Chinese whispers gone horribly wrong."
Salman Rushdie's writing had made a major "contribution to multiculturalism, pluralism and co-existence" and had created "a bridge for Indian writers like Arundhatti Roy and Amithav Ghosh to conquer the world," he said. "He's one of the greatest artists India has created, one of the greatest figures to come out of the Indian Muslim community and people should be proud of what he's achieved.