Is this brouhaha over Rushdie visit dangerous?

GN Bureau | January 20, 2012



Salman Rushdie was born and brought up in Mumbai, he is a ‘person of Indian origin’, and has every right to visit or stay in India as any other PIO. In fact, he has been visiting India quite frequently. The only reason there has been an opposition to his visit for the Jaipur Literary Festival is the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh where Muslims are expected to form a sizeable ‘vote bank’.

Among the parties, which one has spoken out in his support? Not the Congress, it is in fact actively engaged in blocking his visit and taking credit for the same. Not the BJP, in fact, its minority cell has opposed Rushdie’s India visit. Not the Left. Everybody is playing the game of identity politics and Rushdie (or for that matter MF Husain) is reduced to being just a pawn in that. The fact that this trend shows no signs of dissipating could be dangerous in the long run.

Read full story: Rushdie cancels India visit on security grounds

Comments

 

Other News

Making India’s textile & apparel sector sustainable

India’s textile and apparel sector sits at the heart of the economy but is constrained by traditional manufacturing approach. It contributes close to 2% of GDP and around 11% of manufacturing gross value added, with GDP share expected to reach 5% by the end of the decade. The sector employs around 45

Caring for cancer patients: the expanded network of facilities

Health is a State subject, and the primary responsibility for providing healthcare services, including cancer care, rests with the respective state governments. However, the Department of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support to States and Union Territories across the country

Capabilities, aspirations of India’s youth limitless: Modi

The capabilities and aspirations of India’s youth are limitless, prime minister Narendra Modi said in his remarks to the media at the start of monsoon session of the parliament on Monday.  "In the past month, the country has achieved many milestones, filling citiz

India gets the first hydrogen train

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various development projects worth around ₹14,700 crore in Jind, Haryana.   The PM positioned the city as a shining reflection of the good governance model. Emphasizing that the entire Haryana

Climate change is stealing sleep

Climate change has at least doubled the temperature-related sleep loss across 1,338 major cities worldwide over the past five decades, highlighting an emerging but often overlooked public health consequence of rising global temperatures. A new study by Climate Central estimates that between 2020 and

Cabinet approves Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme

The union cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) with a budgetary outlay of Rs 62,500 crore. It aims to further scale up the production, deepen domestic value addition, strengthen supply chain resilience, enhance global competitiveness. It

Upcoming Conferences





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter