Continuous projection of Rushdie-like issues, as vital to Muslims, comes in the way of development as their priority requirement, says Saeed Naqvi
A partial strike to protest the British knighthood to Indian born writer Salman Rushdie affected normal life in Srinagar on Friday.
They do not represent the quest for human justice. That, I think, is one of the great mistakes of the left," Rushdie said.
Visa to author Salman Rushdie is unlikely to be a big election issue for Muslims, who are more concerned with their day-to-day affairs, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday.
The author was flooded with a barrage of hate messages following his tweet in support of writers who returned their Sahitya Akademi awards.
The literary and film community on Friday came out in support of controversial author Salman Rushdie and blamed the West Bengal government for cancellation of his visit to the metropolis.
'Rushdie spent more than a decade of his life in hiding. And finally, he said, no more, I'm coming out. I'm coming out of the shadows. I will not be bowed by fear or a threat. And to those of us who go about our daily lives'
Uttam Ghosh riffs on a quote from Rushdie's double Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight Children to remind us what Freedom of Expression should mean to every human being.
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.
Author Salman Rushdie's visit to India to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival is clouded in uncertainty even as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said his trip might lead to security problems.
Adding to the opposition to author Salman Rushdie's proposed visit to India, another Muslim sect Darul Uloom Farangimahal has issued a "fatwa" in Lucknow, justifying protests against the visit. "All Muslims, without flouting the law, should oppose through every possible means, the visit of the person who used insulting words against the Prophet so that he cannot set his foot in this country where crores of Muslims live," Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangimahal said.
Ashok Gehlot may very well pat himself for winning over a few Muslim votes, but he has simply provided the template for the next offended group: The past is often the prologue to the future, says Rohit Pradhan.
There was no doubt about Pakistan's complicity in the Mumbai attacks, internationally acclaimed India-born author Salman Rushdie has said and urged Britain to stop aid to Islamabad for failing to act against terrorists operating from its soil.
Indian-born novelist Sir Salman Rushdie, whose book Satanic Verses inflamed the Islamic world, regularly demanded money from British detectives who protected him, according to a former protection officer. Ex-special branch detective Ron Evans, who guarded Sir Salman for three years at the height of the threats on his life generated by a fatwa issued by the Iranian Ayatollah, has claimed this in his autobiography On Her Majesty's Service.
Salman Rushdie was named winner of the Best of the Booker award for Midnight's Children. When voting closed on July 8, over 7,800 people had voted (online and SMS) for the six shortlisted titles, with 36 percent voting for Midnight's Children.
Ahead of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Muslim groups on Monday warned organisers against inviting authors who hurt religious sentiments of the community, including the four who had read out passages from Salman Rushdie's banned Satanic Verses at the event last year.
Two Booker prize winners Kiran Desai and Salman Rushdie will be the major attractions of 2007's 10-day Jaipur Heritage International Festival, which begins on January 13.
The chief minister, who spoke from a written text, said he had set a precedent that should be followed by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose grandfather was also granted knighthood.
Muslim groups on Friday welcomed the cancellation of controversial author Salman Rushdie's visit to the Jaipur Literary festival and said their protest no longer stands.
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.
Even as uncertainty looms over Salman Rushdie's appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the India-born author himself is not giving any hints about his plans to visit India and has maintained a stoic silence on Twitter. The Midnight's Children author has logged on to the microblogging site Twitter regularly and commented on various issues, occasionally tweeting several times a day.
Over two decades after 'Satanic Verses' sparked a never-ending controversy and provoked a 'fatwa' for his head, author Salman Rushdie has only one thing to say to his detractors: 'I did not write it for the mullahs'.
As criticism mounted across the Pakistan political spectrum for granting knighthood for Rushdie, Britain defended its decision saying that the writer was honoured for his literary contribution.
Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie joined the growing chorus of protests by leading writers against spread of "communal poison" and "rising intolerance" in the country even as seven more authors decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards.
Amid the controversy over Salman Rushdie's India visit, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Saturday said that the Congress will be looking to exploit the issue to the hilt to win over Muslims voters in Uttar Pradesh.
As the four authors who read out from The Satanic Verses have been asked to leave Jaipur, yet another speaker steps across the line. Rediff.com's Abhishek Mande takes you through the day in pictures and videos.
Controversial author Salman Rushdie has said that he was forced to cancel his trip to Kolkata as he was told that the police would bundle him out in the next flight on instructions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Two months after being forced to skip the Jaipur Literary Festival, controversial author Salman Rushdie on Saturday hit out the Congress, suggesting that his presence there was blocked because of "useless electoral calculations". Participating in the India Today Conclave, he said India "deserves to be led by better leaders".
The Booker prize winner and Hollywood stars mingled at a coffee table book launch.
Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
There has always been a risk-taking edge to Imran Khan. Like him or hate him, it had to be someone like him to finally threaten to demolish the Pakistani establishment, explains Shekhar Gupta.
'The pride of the devoted Seinfeld fan is that he happens to love a show that doesn't take his love for granted, so that even on repeat viewings he is never really sure what directions an episode might take,' observes Sreehari Nair.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections drawing close, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi will begin a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh from Ayodhya starting September 7, his party said on Friday.
Sukanya Verma looks at women who have fleetingly portrayed the formidable Indira Gandhi on screen.
A network of private schools in Pakistan on Monday observed 'I am not Malala' day to condemn Nobel laureate and teenage girl rights activist for her alleged support for controversial British novelist Salman Rushdie.
Atwood's The Testaments and Evaristo's novel Girl, Woman, Other earned each author an equal share of the 50,000 prize.
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