After finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday cancelled his participation in the India Today Conclave apparently because of the presence of controversial author Salman Rushdie who, according to the organisers, was the “gala night speaker” at the event’s concluding session. Mr Abdullah’s newly-appointed counterpart in UP Akhilesh Yadav was only to follow suit ostensibly for the same reason.
While Pakistani Opposition leader made no bones about his skipping the Conclave because of Rushdie’s presence saying he “could not even think of participating in any programme that included Salman Rushdie, who has caused immeasurable hurt to Muslims across the globe”, both Mr Mukherjee and Mr Abdullah tried to play smart aleck by advancing other reasons for their non-participation.
“Unfortunately with the bandh in Jammu and need to make sure Rajouri is resolved today itself, I’m not able to go to Delhi for the IT Conclave,” Mr Abdullah tweeted.
For Mr Akhilesh there was too much on his plate to spare time to visit Delhi for the event.