BlogWatch

Controversial author, novelist and columnist, Salman Rushdie, was prevented from attending the Jaipur Literary Festival last week owing to security concerns. But just what went on behind the scenes in the run-up to the cancellation of the author's appearance continues to preoccupy analysts and bloggers.

The seventh Jaipur Literary Festival was marred by the continuing Salman Rushdie issue which has stirred a considerable amount of debate across various platforms in India. Initially, news of the controversial author of The Satanic Verses attending Jaipur's famous literary festival angered Muslim communities across India. They called for widespread demonstrations and demanded that Rushdie be banned from entering India. Local police responded by stopping Rushdie from coming to Jaipur, citing potential threats to his life. Later, the author claimed that these threats were false and were merely intended to keep him away from the festival.

Since then, the matter has been discussed widely by analysts and bloggers on social media platforms. Some regard Rushdie's absence from the festival as a sign of cowardice but many are giving it a political spin.

Anshul Chaturvedi for his blog for The Times of India argues that this whole issue is reminiscent of the typical Indian ideology of "shutting (something) down" to demonstrate power. "The point here, I think, is not about Rushdie, MF Husain, freedom of expression and that track. That is the more refined, upper-end spectrum of the issue. The point is about power. And about 'obstruction'as power," observes Anshul Chaturvedi.

Another writer, Prashant Panday meanwhile gives the issue a political spin, terming the actions of the government an act of cowardice to gain political advantage. Panday believes that the act of manipulating Rushdie's absence was crafted cleverly by Congress party officials to gain the trust of Muslim communities and to secure their votes against BJP opposition. Panday writes in his blog, "There is a difference between being secular and appeasing the retrograde elements of a community." He further explains, "While the Congress must take the most flak for being so weak in its response to the threats from a small number of extreme Muslims, the unfortunate affair also brings out another fact. That most of us Indians are extremely orthodox, steeped in centuries old tradition and worse, we are very comfortable with it." The writer blames the entire Indian political system for being wary of similar threats and consequently damaging India's reputation as a democratic, secular country.

Minhaz Merchant in his blog for The Times of India writes about how elements within the Muslim communities and the ruling parties have caused harm to the image of Muslims across India by incidents such as the one involving Rushdie. "The principal culprits in the Salman Rushdie affair are the UPA government and its communal bed fellows amongst the Muslim leadership," says Merchant. Explaining his point of view further, the writer says, "both have a vested interest in keeping ordinary Muslims in a socio-economic twilight. The more the community wallows in a theological quagmire, the easier it is to pick off Muslim votes en masse." Minhaz Merchant writes about how Muslims are considered backward and conservative across India even though Islam itself is a liberal religion which allows for progress. He believes that Congress may make a short term gain by securing the required votes, but eventually Muslims will see how they are being manipulated and their reputation damaged long-term.

The Salman Rushdie issue has indeed sparked a number of debates and different people are viewing the issue in different ways. One thing for sure, it does bring out in-depth analysis and opinions across various platforms. Salman Rushdie originally came into the limelight in 1988 after the publishing The Satanic Verses. Muslims all over the globe found the book blasphemous and felt it insulted their religion and the prophet. In the resulting controversy Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a Fatwa against Rushdie, which was widely condemned in the West. The writer, who was born in India, now lives in Britain.

Author: Mohammad Aasim Saleem
Editor: Grahame Lucas