Jaipur –
In a dramatic end to the first day of the Jaipur Literature Festival, four writers rallied in support of Salman Rushdie by reading from The Satanic Verses. The book has been banned in India since 1988. As a result, a warrant was issued for the festival organizers; arrests which, at time of writing, have not been resolved.
In a statement made earlier today, Rushdie said he would not travel to Jaipur as planned because of intelligence reports that paid assassins were being sent from Mumbai to kill him. The author wrote on Twitter, “Very sad not to be at jaipur. I was told bombay mafia don issued weapons to 2 hitmen to ‘eliminate’ me. Will do video link instead. Damn.” [sic]
At a talk scheduled for 5.15pm this afternoon at the festival’s Diggi Palace venue, authors Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar decided they would read from Rushdie’s most controversial work in protest of his absence. In an interview before the session, Kunzru said this was a bleak day for India and Indian literature. He added, “We come out strongly in support of Salman Rushdie’s right to be heard.”
He also suggested that the government’s reticence could be due to political self-interest in the run-up to the country’s state elections, which begin later this month. “If that’s true, it’s disgusting,” Kunzru said, “We are looking for people with principles to lead us. If the politicians aren’t going to do it, it’s down to the writers.”
The reading was stopped by festival producer Sanjoy Roy, who apparently quarrelled with the authors offstage. “We have just been told that this may not be the best time to continue reading from the Satanic Verses,” Kumar said, smiling and giving a thumbs-up to the cheering crowd.
Afterwards, Rushdie tweeted, “@vikasbajaj: @amitavakumar says organizers asked him not to continue reading from Satanic Verses. Willie [William Dalrymple], Sanjoy: why did this happen?”
But the writers did continue. In a show of solidarity, novelist Ruchir Joshi and poet Jeet Thayil used their scheduled session at 6.30pm to pick up where Kunzru and Khumar had left off. According to a festival delegate and former Indian civil servant, Joshi and Thayil chose to read a passage in the book which Muslim groups have considered the most offensive.
Indian National Congress party spokesperson Abishek Manu Singhvi called the Jaipur writers’ protests “unnecessary provocation”, explaining that Rushdie had made a personal decision not to attend the festival. Singhvi said the readings were either an “attention-seeking exercise” or a “deliberate attempt to flout a [decades-old] ban”, adding that “the law will have to take its own course.”
Just before 10pm local time, the event organizers issued a statement declaring that the writers’ actions “reflect their personal, individual views and are not endorsed by the Festival or attributable to its organizers or anyone acting on their behalf.” They said they were “fully committed to ensuring compliance of all prevailing laws and will continue to offer their fullest cooperation to prevent any legal violation of any kind.”
Comments