Rushdie cites threat, opts out

[1]

Salman Rushdie ended weeks of speculation about his participation in the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) by announcing on Friday that he would not be traveling to India. Rushdie issued a press statement in which he blamed political indifference, specifically of the Rajasthan government, and lack of adequate security.

Rushdie said in his statement, “For the last several days I have made no public comment about my proposed trip to the Jaipur Literary Festival at the request of the local authorities in Rajasthan, hoping that they would put in place such precautions as might be necessary to allow me to come and address the festival audience in circumstances that were comfortable and safe for all. I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to ‘eliminate’ me. While I have some doubts about the accuracy of this intelligence, it would be irresponsible of me to come to the festival in such circumstances; irresponsible to my family, to the festival audience, and to my fellow writers. I will therefore not travel to Jaipur as planned.”
But even as Rushdie ended the guessing games, official huddles and negotiations in Jaipur, the world of the literati and twitterati came alive, outraged and loquacious. Rushdie, whose twitter account had been silent for the past couple of days, tweeted on Friday evening: “Very sad not to be at jaipur. I was told bombay mafia don issued weapons to 2 hitmen to ‘eliminate’ me. Will do video link instead. Damn.”
Author William Dalrymple, who is also one of the directors of the JLF, said, “The reality of Rushdie’s writing is completely different from the way that they have been cartooned and caricatured. Salman is a writer of enormous breadth and depth... His passionate engagement with Indo-Islamic history and works show that he is as far as can possibly be removed from the Islamophobe of myth. He is one of India’s greatest writers, and in a more just world his arrival here would have been heralded by people in the streets throwing out rose petals in front of him rather than this nonsense.”
Rose petals may be a long way off, but words were showered on Rushdie on the lawns of Hotel Diggi Palace, the venue of JLF. Hari Kunzru, UK-based Kashmiri Pandit author of My Revolutions and Gods Without Men, tweeted before going in to address his session “Of Gods and Men” at the JLF: “About to defy bigots and shoe throwers, reading @SalmanRushdie Satanic Verses on stage with @amitavakumar at #jaipur #jlf”.
Which he did. Well, tried to. Kunzru and Kumar were stopped midway by the organisers, at which Rushdie tweeted, “@amitavakumar says organizers asked him not to continue reading from Satanic Verses. Willie, Sanjoy: why did this happen?” Willie is Dalrymple, and Sanjoy is Sanjoy Roy, both directors of JLF.
But unbeknownst to the directors, an hour later, at the session titled “Exile on Main Street: Change and the City”, Indian authors Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi blew a flying kiss to Salman Rushdie by reading two of the “offending pages” of The Satanic Verses, without interruption. And they signed off saying, “Satanic Verses is available for download. Read it out publicly with friends and break the law”. More power to writers, the urban, liberal audience seemed to be screaming in response with their loud and stirring applause.
The organisers of the JLF issued a press statement late Friday night distancing themselves from these “subversive” acts: “Certain delegates acted in a manner during their sessions today which were without the prior knowledge or consent of the organisers... The festival organisers are fully committed to ensuring compliance of all prevailing laws... Any action by any delegate or anyone else involved with the festival that in any manner falls foul of the law will not be tolerated and all necessary, consequential action will be taken.”