Over a quarter century after his book The Satanic Verses was banned in India, author Salman Rushdie is in the eye of a political storm here again. An array of political parties and organizations are calling on the government not to grant a visa for Rushdie, who is due to participate in a literary festival in Jaipur that begins later this week.

Rushdie, an Indian-born British citizen, has made several private visits to India, including one to Jaipur to attend the 2007 literary festival. None of these visits kicked up protests in the country. The topic that Rushdie will speak at the upcoming Jaipur event is “Inglish, Amlish, Hinglish: The chutnification of English” - not a topic that would irk devout Muslims. So why the fuss now?

Rushdie’s visit to India coincides with elections to five state assemblies in the country, most importantly in Uttar Pradesh. The largest state in India, Uttar Pradesh is also politically the most crucial. The electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh is a multi-cornered one and the contest is close. Winning the Muslim vote is crucial as Muslims account for roughly 18% of the state’s population. In around 70 assembly seats Muslims constitute about 20% of the population and in another 36 they are between 30% and 45% of the population. Muslims will therefore determine the outcome in roughly 130 of the 403 electoral constituencies that are up for grabs in the state. Several parties are therefore desperately wooing the Muslims. The Muslim vote is expected to be split this time between three parties - the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The raking up of the Rushdie controversy must be seen in this context. Parties are hoping to tap into Muslim anger by demanding the author’s visa be denied. More here

(Dr. Benny Peiser)