Rushdie in doubt for India festival after threats

British author Salman Rushdie's planned appearance at a literary festival in India was thrown into doubt yesterday due to security concerns caused by protests from influential Muslim clerics.
Rushdie was due to speak on Friday and Saturday at the five-day gathering in the city of Jaipur, 240 kilometres from New Delhi, but his name has been dropped from the programme of events published on the Internet.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told the NDTV news channel yesterday: "Salman Rushdie's presence does have security implications and we are keeping a close watch and have been in touch with the organisers.
"But at the same time we can't prevent him from coming since he is a PIO (Person of Indian Origin)."