Rushdie pulls out of Indian festival

Author Salman Rushdie has called off his visit to India to attend a literary festival, which began yesterday, due to security concerns triggered by protests from influential Muslim clerics.
The organisers of Jaipur Literature Festival read out a statement by Rushdie, which said, "I have been informed by intelligence sources in Indian states that paid assassins from Mumbai underworld might be on their way. While I have doubts about these but it would be irresponsible for me to come and endanger the life of fellow authors and others," the author said.
Rushdie won the Booker Prize for his novel “Midnight's Children” in 1981.
But his novel the Satanic Verses is banned in India. The publication sparked a wave of protests around the world after Iranian leader Khomeini said that the novel's portrayal of the prophet Mohammad insulted Islam.
Last week, the influential seminary Darul Uloom of Deoband and various other Muslim groups had opposed Rushdie's visit to the country.