New Delhi (dpa) – An Islamic seminary urged India's government to cancel a visa for author Salman Rushdie, saying he should not be allowed into the country because he had offended some Muslims, officials said Tuesday. Rushdie whose 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, is considered blasphemous against Islam by Muslims, is due to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival beginning January 20. “Rushdie should not be allowed to come here as it would be tantamount to rubbing salt on the wounds of Muslims,” Darul Uloom Deoband seminary vice-chancellor Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani told dpa. The seminary is considered among the most influential schools for Islamic law in Asia and has adherents from all over Afghanistan, Pakistan and South-East Asia. Several political parties supported the seminary's demand. News reports said no party wanted to anger Muslims before a February election in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Muslims constitute an estimated 19 per cent of the state's voters. “I maintain this is a religious issue not a political one. If there is no response from the government, we will take appropriate action,” said Nomani, whose seminary is located in Uttar Pradesh. But festival organizers told the IANS news agency that they would not revoke the invitation and confirmed Rushdie's attendance. Rushdie, whose ancestors came from northern region of Kashmir, has attended literary events in India in recent years, including the Jaipur festival in 2007. India was the first country to ban The Satanic Verses, which unleashed violent protests by Muslims around the world. In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for him to be killed, which led Rushdie to spend more than a decade underground. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/YFU71 Tags: India, Islam, Salman Rushdie Section: Culture, Latest News, Religion, South Asia, Written Word
