THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sir Salman Rushdie's name has been dropped from an Indian literature festival amid fears for his safety after threats of protests by the country's most influential Islamic seminary.
Sir Salman has spoken at Jaipur in the past without controversy but his scheduled appearance at this year's festival, which opens on Thursday, was seized on by political parties after the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary – one of Islam's most powerful bodies – called on the government to revoke his visa or stop him entering the country.
The seminary's head Abul Qasim Nomani said the author could never be forgiven for the 'blasphemy' contained in his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which provoked outrage throughout the Islamic world.
He went into hiding after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian Shia leader, issued a fatwa calling for his death over claims made by the novel's narrator that disputed verses in the Koran had been disclosed by the Archangel Gabriel.
The novel was banned throughout the Islamic world, including India, which has a Muslim population of just under 180 million. » | Dean Nelson, New Delhi | Tuesday, January 17, 2012
How surprising! This is the religion of peace and love and tolerance and forgiveness we are talking about, isn't it? This must surely be a very unusual decision for Muslims! – © Mark
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