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It feels great to be back in India: Rushdie

Suhasini Haidar in New Delhi

Controversial author Salman Rushdie made his first public appearance in India in 14 years at the Commonwealth Writer's prize function organised in Delhi today, winning much applause and all the attention, if not the main award he had been short-listed for.

The award for best book went to South African author J M Coetzee for his novel Disgrace, and for best first book to Canadian writer Jeffery Moore for his novel Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain.

Speaking at the awards ceremony this evening, Rushdie said: "It feels great to be back in India. I could never have imagined that 14 years could go by without me visiting India, and I do not intend to let another 14 pass by like this ever again."

Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses was banned by the Indian government in 1989 after agitations by fundamentalist groups in India that claimed that the book hurt their religious sentiments turned violent.

Subsequently Iranian head Ayatollah Khomeini issued a 'fatwa' to execute Rushdie and the author has been a fugitive ever since, travelling with heavy security at all times. Although the threat from the 'fatwa' no longer seems strong, the Indian ban on the book still remains.

However, he added that he had not "requested any political meetings, nor had he been offered any to resolve the issue."

Earlier in the day, a group led by the Shahi Imam protested against Rushdie's visit.

When asked to respond to their protest, Rushdie said: "Everybody has a right to protest. If they don't like what I write, I am sorry. I would like everyone to like my writing. But I don't think my book has been properly represented to them. For example, it has been said time and again that I refer to the Quran as The Satanic Verses, and that is wrong. After all, I come from an Indian Muslim family myself . They don't seem to realise that."

Rushdie is in India to receive the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for best book in the Eurasia region for his latest novel The Ground beneath Her Feet. He revealed he had been travelling in India for the past couple of weeks, accompanied by his son Zafar, without the knowledge of the media.

"I am delighted to have been able to show him places like Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, and my family's property in Solan, all of which he has never seen before...There is a part of India which you always carry with you, and that has sustained me all these years," he said very nostalgically.

During his encounter with the press Rushdie consistently refused to make any political comments about India. But he did say that he would like to see democracy restored in Pakistan as soon as possible. "I am not, as many seem to be, a fan of military dictatorships anywhere...and I would like to see that change (in Pakistan)," he said.

Rushdie's arrival was quite obviously the event of the evening. Papers here have been speculating about whether Rushdie was in town for the past week, and what seemed to confirm his presence was the immense security cordon around and inside the hotel today. After the ceremony, where the main prize was given to Coetzee (in absentia), some of the invitees confessed to feeling very "disappointed" that Rushdie had not won the prize.

"After all," said one of the organisers, "He practically risked his life to come for the ceremony!"

Rushdie was nominated along with Coetzee, Shauna Singh Baldwin (author of The Body Remembers), and Lily Brett (author of Too Many Men). All the authors had already won the Commonwealth prize for their respective regions.

Another disappointment came for fans of The Indian Express journalist-cum-writer Raj Kamal Jha, author of The Blue Bedspread, who was obviously a favourite to win in the category of Best first book.

He lost that to Jeffery Moore who had been nominated along with Kapka Kassabova (for Reconnaissance) and Funso Aiyejina (author of The legend of the Rockhills and other stories).

The awards function was attended by several writers, publishers and literary critics, along with diplomats from all the countries of the Commonwealth. It included former Commonwealth Writer's prize awardees like Nayantara Sahgal and Manju Kapur (of Difficult Daughters fame). External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh gave away the main prizes.

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