—PTI
The government on Tuesday ruled out barring Salman Rushdie from visiting India in the wake of a demand by a top Islamic seminary to cancel his visa, even as the controversial author said he did not need a visa to come to this country.
Official sources say 65-year-old Rushdie holds a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card which entitles him to visit the country without a visa.
The sources said since the PIO card guaranteed hassle-free travel without any document, Mr. Rushdie was not required to apply for visa to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival this month end.
“He had travelled to India in the past using the PIO card. We have never stopped him. We have no intention of stopping any PIO cardholder from travelling to his or her home country in future either,” a source said.
Mr. Rushdie remained unfazed over the demand by Darul Uloom Deoband to block his planned trip to India and suggested it was misplaced.
“Regarding my Indian visit, for the record, I don’t need a visa,” posted Rushdie on micro-blogging site Twitter after Deoband demanded that the Indian government cancel the author’s visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past. Indian-origin Mr. Rushdie also had a British passport.
“Why should Congress stop this [Mr. Rushdie’s trip],” Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed asked. “If there is a legal provision to stop someone then it should be put [to use]. But whatever step is taken should be taken within the legal framework… not outside it,” he said.
Vice-Chancellor of Darul Uloom Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani said on Monday that the “Indian government should cancel his visa as Mr.Rushdie had annoyed the religious sentiments of Muslims in the past.”
BJP’s Nirmala Seetharaman alleged there was a “very big game” behind the visa row and accused the Congress of being behind it. Samajwadi Party’s Shahid Siddiqui said the government’s approach exposed its “double standards” on the issue of giving travel documents to Mr. Rushdie and the late painter M.F. Husain.