Keep literature festival above controversy

The world famous Jaipur Literature Festival scheduled to be held from Jan 20 to 25. The festival must go on without any controversy. The participation of world famous author Salman Rushdie is opposed by a community because of his book The Satanic Verses, which is alleged to contain blasphemous content. The book has already been banned in India.
The Satanic Verses was published in 1988. Rushdie is a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and the government cannot prevent him from coming to India.
The Satanic Verses had sparked outrage in the Muslim world and a fatwa was issue against the writer Salman Rushdie by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14th February, 1989.
Salman Rushdie has penned several world renowned novels. As he is a person of Indian origin, he needs no visa to travel India. The top Islamic seminary Darool Uloom of Deoband has demanded that the Indian Government must not allow Salman Rushdie to come India to participate in Jaipur Literature Festival. Muslim community and its religious leaders have every right to oppose his views, which he has expressed in the novel.
Salman Rushdie in the capacity of an author also must not be punished for expressing his views, which he considers to be his thinking and feelings, in Satanic Verses.
In a secular democratic country like India where there is a freedom of expression, no one must be threatened to be physically eliminated for his views. Though his views must be opposed if they hurt the feeling any community or individual, he must not be prevented from participating in the event of the standard of Jaipur Literature Festival.
As far as the opposition of the aggrieved community to Rushdie’s participation is concerned, it is for the Government of Rajasthan to ensure peace and tranquility in the state during literature festival. The state government can not take refuge in a certain community’s opposition to prevent Rushdie’s participation. Literature Festival is organized to throw light on the prevailing condition in society and to remove the narrow feelings from the minds of the people. Literature is the mirror society. It teaches us the merits of pluralism and how to live peacefully in a secular society.
Authors and writers are free to pen on any issue and theme but they must ensure that their comments do not hurt the religious sentiments of a community and individual. If a section of Muslim community holds Salman Rushdie responsible for writing blasphemous literature, they have every right to write literature in opposition to his feelings and expressions to counter his views. By preventing the world renowned Author Salman Rushdie from participating in Jaipur Literature Festival, neither the Rajasthan Government nor the aggrieved comunity is doing any to good to literature in its entirety.
Jaipur Literature Festival holds special significance for litterateur like Salman Rushdie in particular and the literary community in general. Rajashthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot must not evade responsibility from maintaining law and order and holding the literature festival peacefully. He must not play vote politics by appeasing the particular community, which opposes Rushdie, and place its anger as hurdle in the participation of world renowned author to keep it in good humour.