The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday accused the Congress of playing politics by inviting Salman Rushdie to the Jaipur Literature Festival despite knowing that "conditions are not favourable" to welcome the writer to India.
"First, Congress party proposed Salman Rushdie to come to India and now it will only dispose the visa. There is a political game and if they knew that conditions are not favorable to welcome Salman Rushdie why did they give visa to him," said BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
He said after protests by the Darul Uloom Deoband the government will cancel the visa, adding there is a political motive behind the whole controversy. However, he failed to clarify his remark.
India's top Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband Monday asked the government not to allow Rushdie to come to India for the literature festival as the author has "hurt the sentiments of Muslims the world over" with his work.
Published 10 January 2012, 09:47 IST