Bukhari protests visa for Rushdie

London, Feb 4: Visiting External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has cleared the visa for Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie to vis...

London, Feb 4: Visiting External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has cleared the visa for Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie to visit India for the first time since the 1980s when his controversial book The Satanic Verses was banned by the then Congress regime. The Indian High Commission here cleared the visa after a nod from visiting External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and the Union Home Ministry, sources said today.

The decision to grant the visa by the Vajpayee Government is in sharp contrast to the Congress stand on denying the British author the chance to visit India.

However, the decision has drawn a sharp reaction from the Naib Imam of Delhi Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari. He has objected to the Vajpayee Government8217;s decision to grant visa to the controversial author and demanded its cancellation to maintain social harmony in the country. Questioning the very intention of the BJP-led Government to allow the Indian-born author to visit the country, the naib deputy Imam said it waswelcoming a controversial person whose book had hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims all over the world.

He also took strong objection to the reported statement of Home Minister L K Advani five months ago that Rushdie was welcome in India if he was willing to visit the country.

He appealed to Muslims all over the country to protest Rushdie8217;s proposed visit. 8220;If he comes and the Government welcomes him and provides security, I appeal to Muslims to protest through all peaceful means8221;, Bukhari said. He also warned the Government that it would be solely responsible for any unpleasant incident against him during his visit to the country.

Significantly, the Congress remained non-committal on the Government8217;s reported decision. 8220;It is for the government of the day to make an assessment on the issue. When we were in power we had banned the book and denied visa to Rushdie as we had felt that it would lead to communal tension and communal frenzy in the country8221;, party spokesman, Ajit Jogi, told reporters.Earlier, the visa was collected by Rushdie8217;s lawyer amid indications that the well known author may make a trip to his birthplace in the next few weeks.