Rushdie's Kolkata visit cancelled after protests

British author Salman Rushdie has abandoned plans to attend a publicity event for the film adaptation of his award-winning novel "Midnight's Children" in the Indian city of Kolkata after Muslim groups took to the streets to protest his visit.
Around a hundred protesters congregated outside the city's airport ahead of the Indian-born author's visit on Wednesday, airport officials said, the latest in a string of recent clashes over freedom of expression in India.
Rushdie's 1998 novel "The Satanic Verses" is banned in India due to its depiction of Islam, and the author was forced to abandon a visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival last January after protests and death threats against him.
"We will not allow him here. He is hated by all Muslims in the world. I thank the government of West Bengal for listening to us," said Idris Ali, chief of the All India Minority Forum, referring to the state of which Kolkata is the capital.