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.
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