Author Salman Rushdie would address the Jaipur Literature Festival using video conferencing facility on Tuesday.
Rushdie’s presence at the ongoing festival has been the centre of a controversy after Muslim groups demanded ban on his return to India.
The organisers of the festival on Monday confirmed that Rushdie, the author of banned book The Satanic Verses, would speak to the gathering via a video link on the last day of the five-day fest.
Rushdie’s trip to India was cancelled after Rajasthan Police advised him not to attend the festival as there was an alleged threat to his life. That led to a huge controversy as the police denied they had stopped his entry and Rushdie’s consequent allegations that the whole threat was concocted to stop him from visiting India.
Will not allow Rushdie’s video conference says Raj govt
Rajasthan government on Monday said it would not allow the controversial author’s proposed video link address to the Jaipur Literature Festival without prior permission.
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.
A senior Rajasthan government official told that they were examining the matter and no permission has been sought by the organisers to arrange any video conferencing of Rushdie so far.
The official said that the government “would not allow this without a prior permission”.
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