UK Today News: The author of the controversial book ‘The Satanic Verses’, Salman Rushdie, expressed his sadness for India after his video link to the Jaipur Literary Festival was blocked. Rushdie’s address was blocked after he received death threats from Asian country.
The author stated that religious extremist groups prevented the freedom of ideas and also blamed the policitians who failed to oppose the groups for narrow political reasons. Earlier, the government of Rajasthan in India waved a green flag over the video link, but Muslim activists planned to to march to the venue of the Literary Festival in Jaipur and disrupt the event.
Many Muslims regard Rushdie’s book ‘The Satanic Verses’ as blasphemous. The video link was organized after Salman’s trip to India was cancelled due to an assassination threat.
While speaking to Indian news agency NDTV, Rushdie said that he was personally disappointed, but the overwhelming feeling of disappointment was on behalf of India. The author added that he loved the country all his life and has always praised its liberty and secularism all his life. Rushdie also said that it could be the upcoming elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh due to which the politicians are trying to secure the Muslim votes.
