Several authors and artists on Tuesday voiced their outrage over the cancellation of a video address by Salman Rushdie at the Jaipur Literature Festival, accusing the Rajasthan government of "abject surrender" to threats of violence by "fringe elements".
Ending the suspense, Jaipur Literature Festival organisers on Tuesday cancelled the video session with controversial author Salman Rushdie after the owners of the venue refused to hold the event citing security concerns.
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement might have aroused high sentiment in India but social activist Aruna Roy believes it lacked the ideological tethering that is required to hold mass campaigns together and was essentially driven by the mass media.
The Supreme Court will on Friday hear sociologist Ashis Nandy's petition seeking protection from arrest for an alleged anti-Dalit remark he made at the Jaipur Literary Festival.
Stealing the limelight at the Jaipur Literature Festival the Dalai Lama on Thursday spoke about India's immense contribution to learning since ancient days beginning with the Nalanda University, in his talk on the Buddha's influence on the literary world.
Salman Rushdie is a "poor" and "sub-standard writer" who would have remained largely unknown but for his controversial book The Satanic Verses, according to Markandey Katju, till recently a judge of the Supreme Court.
In his diary of the concluding day of a rather over-eventful Jaipur Literature Festival 2012, rediff.com's Abhishek Mande tries to communicate the plethora of emotions, ranging from rebellious to disbelief, that coloured the prestigious, and increasingly significant, five-day literary meet.
The session was supposed to be the jewel in the crown of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 -- Salman Rushdie was to address the festival through a video link after weeks of anticipation and controversy. However, as time passed the possibility of the session happening itself came under serious doubt.
The development came a day after the India-born author accused the Rajasthan police of lying about a plot to eliminate him to keep him away from the festival, a charge dismissed by the state government which said Intelligence Bureau had given the inputs and it was not concocted.
In what could further stoke the Salman Rushdie controversy, a section of authors at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Friday launched a campaign demanding immediate lifting of the 23-year-old ban on the controversial writer's book The Satanic Verses.
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Opposing controversial author Salman Rushdie's visit to India, Islamic Seminary Darul Uloom Deoband on Monday said the government should cancel his visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past.
Former revolutionary and Lahore-based author-journalist Ahmed Rashid speaks on why India should play a more proactive role in the subcontinent for its own good, reports Abhishek Mande.
Change no longer creeps up slowly, it comes on fast in the digital age, when film-goers in Tamil Nadu can log on to see Vishwaroopam, feels Sunil Sethi
The agony of waiting for Salman Rushdie, words of wisdom from Ben Okri and Amish Tripathi and a rather strange interaction with a Muslim activist who refuses to name the author he's protesting against. That was the second last day of the Jaipur Literature Festival, reports Abhishek Mande.
The much awaited question of whether Salman Rushdie would be present at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 was finally answered a few minutes ago when Sanjoy Roy, the festival's producer, told us that the author would be addressing the festival audience via a video link at 3:45 pm on Tuesday.
The Salman Rushdie row refused to die down on Sunday with a police complaint being filed against the four authors who read out portions from the controversial author's banned book Satanic Verses at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Two days after he scrapped his plans to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival citing threats to his life, an "angry" Salman Rushdie on Sunday charged that he was lied to by the Rajasthan police, who "invented" a plot to keep him away from the event.
The American talk show host is in India to sheet for her new travel show and attend the Jaipr Literature Festival.
In an interview to rediff.com's Abhishek Mande, Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie also spoke extensively about what it means to be a writer in Pakistan, the state of her country and how the post-Salman Taseer society is throwing up some rather unusual icons, icons like Veena Malik.
Clad in a mustard salwaar-kameez and sporting golden bangles, the queen of chat shows Oprah Winfrey was the headline draw at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday.
After two forgettable days, writer-director Suparn Verma was back with a bang on Monday alongside Rediff.com correspondent Abhishek Mande attending the Jaipur Literature Fest, the biggest literary meet in the Asia Pacific. Here's their Day 4 dairy:
British writer and historian Patrick French has died in London after battling cancer for four years, his family announced on Thursday.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher sparred during a debate over the limits imposed on freedom of speech and were joined in by a politically divided audience at the Jaipur Lit Fest.
With the Rs 7,800-crore (Rs 78 billion) fraud at Satyam Computer leaving India's IT sector gasping for breath, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani sees the fiasco as a blessing in disguise, as it will make authorities enforce better regulations and auditing mechanisms for the industry.
At the Jaipur Literature Festival, rediff.com's Abhishek Mande caught up with Chinese author Hong Ying. Here's what she had to say...
After five days of cultural jamboree curtains drew on the Jaipur Literature Festival and writer-director Suparn Verma and Rediff.com correspondent Abhishek Mande witnessed all the extravaganza. From revisiting the '70s to an intense India-Pak debate, Day 5 was packed with action. And here's all.
'...only if we sort it out with Pakistan.'
The Jaipur police have sought the video of author Ashis Nandy's controversial comments at the Jaipur Literature Festival -- that people from Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities were the "most corrupt". Nandy has left the festival, skipping the rest of the event amid protests demanding his arrest.
'They are worried that the BJP government is trying to reduce Kashmiris as a minority.'
Create your own identity to reach the top, says journalist Ravish Kumar at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
'Children are curious by nature, so I thought of writing these books, which provide creative but convincing explanations and also teach values like sharing is caring,' Sudha Murty tells Chintan Girish Modi.
Sujatha Gidla's scathing observations about Mahatma Gandhi and other highlights from Jaipur Literature Festival 2018.
Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar was in for an unpleasant surprise when he flagged off the fifth edition of Jaipur Marathon in which over 50,000 participants took part.
The going has never been easy for author Cyrus Mistry, who suffers from a nervous disorder. The reclusive author, who bagged the prestigious South Asian literature award, talks openly to P B Chandra about his illness and how writing has helped him cope with it.
Attacked by detractors within the party of praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday accused Modi of maintaining "silence" on his ministers' comments on controversial issues and conversion campaign by groups like Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The city is becoming more democratic as the past embraces the future says Rahul Jacob.
Decoding the pros and cons of the IPL series were James Astill, the author of The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India, Soumya Bhattacharya who wrote You must Like Cricket?, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Shazia Ilmi brought the house down at the concluding session of the Jaipur Literature Festival when -- during a debate on democracy --she declared, "In a democracy, everyone has the right to protest, including the chief minister". Sanchari Bhattacharya reports from Jaipur.
He cited the Congress' poor performance in the 2019 general election after victories in assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh the previous year to buttress his point.
