NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

I never wrote Koran was written by the Devil: Rushdie

Celebrated and condemned author Salman Rushdie made his first public appearance in India 12 years after he went into self-exile following the ban on his controversial novel The Satanic Verses.

''It is a moving occasion to be back home after a long gap,'' said Rushdie Friday addressing a press conference at the Oberoi hotel in New Delhi, the venue of the award ceremony for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Accompanied by son Zafar, he had arrived in New Delhi a week ago and visited Jaipur, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra. He spent a couple of days at his ancestral home in Solan and Shimla before returning to Delhi on Friday.

''It was a very intense experience to come to India. I am drinking it all,'' he said.

Asked about his reaction to the protests against his visit, he said that people have a right to protest. ''I am appreciative that protests were carried out in a civilised and peaceful manner.''

Rushdie who had won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for his book The ground beneath her feet is also a contender for the Pan-Commonwealth Prize for the best English fiction this year.

He said he wanted to begin a new relationship with India and put the past behind him. ''I don't want to be drawn into the old debate,'' he said, referring to his ''blasphemous remarks on Islam'' in The Satanic Verses.

Asked if he had any message to the Indian Muslims, he said, ''I never wrote that Koran was written by the Devil. There was nothing against the Muslims in the novel. I come from a Indian Muslim family.''

On India's worsened relation with Pakistan, Rushdie said that there was nothing new in it. ''But I hope some form of democracy will return to Pakistan.''

He was not very categorical about the reports that he shifting to the United States. ''My two children and I live in London and we are happy. I also like it in the US.''

Asked if he would meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he replied in the negative.

Would he urge the government to drop the ban on The Satanic Verses? "I have not come here to lobby for that,'' Rushdie replied.

The author termed his past one week in India a 'considerable achievement'. He said he had been walking around the streets without coming across any protests or heated discussions. He felt the attitude of people had changed.

''I listened very closely to what people had to say. I hope that the long drift that happened between India and me is over," he said. "There is a kind of India we all carry and nobody can take it away from us.''

What changes did he notice in New Delhi? "The traffic is much worse," came the reply.

Asked if he would publish his next book in India, Rushdie said he does not think of publishing a book until it is written.

His 20-year-old son Zafar, an event manager in London, said he was happy to be in India. His last visit to the country was when he was three years old.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report