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No role in keeping Rushdie away: Centre

Last Updated 31 January 2012, 20:19 IST

 The Centre on Tuesday said it has “no role”  in prohibiting writer Salman Rushdie from coming to India.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the decision to cancel the author’s visit was taken by the organisers of the festival at Jaipur and not by the Government of Rajasthan.

Chidambaram said the only thing the Centre did was to issue advisory for three cities — Mumbai and Jaipur— saying  protests were likely against Rushdie’s visits and security  be provided to him in these places.  These were routine advisories based on the inputs from the  Intelligence Bureau (IB), he said.

The minister who was submitting the monthly report of his ministry here before the media was asked a question on the legality of reading the excerpts of author’s controversial   banned book “The Satanic  Verses” at the festival to which he said “the book is banned whether reading of it is banned. I don’t know.” He said Rushdie was a Person of Indian origin (PIO) and hence does not need any visa and permission to come to India.

Answering questions on the UID controversy, Chidambaram said  UID chairman Nandan Nilekani had assured him that he would review his programme and resume capturing biometrics only in April.

The home minister said it was brought to his ministry’s  notice that false identity was being created. “For a small amount, people were ready to introduce anyone...Nandan has assured me that he would review all cases. Let us see,” he said.

On cost of UID being more than expected, the Minister said he cannot say anything on the issue. “Expenditure Finance Committee must have looked into it,” he said.

On “the informer” controversy relating to triple  bomb blasts on July 13, 2011, Chidambaram said it was possible that the arrested person could be “an informer” in one case and a suspect in other.

Union Home Secretary R K Singh on  Tuesday last denied   any differences between the Delhi Police and its Mumbai counterpart in the Mumbai  blast probe. The clarification  came a day after the Home Ministry criticised the Mumbai  Anti-Terrorism Squad for a goof up in pursuing the case and arresting an “informer” as a terrorist. The Union home ministry had earlier claimed that one of the arrested, Naqee Ahmed Sheikh of Darbhanga in Bihar, was in fact an informer who worked for Delhi Police and IB.

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(Published 31 January 2012, 20:19 IST)

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