ravishingravi Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 NEW DELH: In India two months after being forced to skip Jaipur Literary Festival, controversial author Salman Rushdie today hit out the Congress party, suggesting that his presence there was blocked because of "useless electoral calculations" and told Rahul Gandhi that "it did not work". The renowed author, who has been castigated by fundamentalist Muslim groups for his book 'The Satanic Verses', said blocking his presence in Jaipur "led the Congress party down the road" in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Participating in India Today Conclave, he said the India "deserves to be led by better leaders than is being now". Referring to the controversy which surrounded the Jaipur Festival in January which forced him to skip the event, he said, "What happened there is not Deobandi bigotry... It was pretty useless electoral calculations. It did not work, Rahul (Gandhi)." He suggested that this "led to the debacle" of Congress in Uttar Pradesh. "Indian electorate is smarter than these politicians... People can be whipped as in Jaipur Literary Festival," Rushdie said, adding 95 per cent of Muslims are not interested in violence and that would be true for Hindus too. Rushdie hits at Imran Khan Salman Rushdie hit out at Pakistan politician Imran Khan describing him as a "dictator in waiting". The former Pakistan cricketer-turned-founder of the political outfit Tehreek-e-Insaf withdrew from the conclave two days ago, saying "he did not dream of being seen with Rushdie for the immeasurable hurt he has caused to Muslims". "A British writer described Imran Khan as a dictator in waiting. I am happy that nobody else is protesting this time than Imran Khan. Imran is afraid of facing my bouncers. Imran knew that he would share the stage with me," the Booker Prize winning writer said. "Imran never read 'The Satanic Verses'. Imran is not a liberal," Rushdie said. Rushdie, who returned two months after he vowed on Indian television that he would come back to India after being stopped from the Jaipur Literature Festival in January, said he had "not caused immeasurable harm to Mulsims". "Fanatics cause biggest harm to Islam. Immeasurable harm have been caused to Muslims by terrorists," he said. Rushdie said common people were more sensible than their leaders and 95 per cent Muslims in India were not in favour of the violence and the things being said in their name. "Freedom is not absolute, if you don't defend it, you lose it...," he said. Freedom of speech is a casualty of bigotry, Rushdie said. "India always had tradition of accepting free speech. Everyday there is a price for hooliganism by bigots," he said, taking a dig at the "disgraceful votebank politics taking place in India". Rushdie said the ban on the import of "The Satanic Verses" in the age of Internet was useless. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/I-havent-caused-immeasurable-harm-to-Mulsims-Salman-Rushdie/articleshow/12309169.cms
jairamesh Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Salman Rushdie hit out at Pakistan politician Imran Khan describing him as a "dictator in waiting". That's some heavy handed accusations. Expect war of words to break out. But there might be some truth to it, judging by the number of trips Imran Khan makes to the Dictators' "retreat", London. Set-up the retirement pad before looting your home nation. Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Musharf are all well versed in this approach.
ravishingravi Posted March 18, 2012 Author Posted March 18, 2012 ^Incredibly bold !! and funny. Loved it.
punjabi_khota Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 AHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAAAAAA "Years of kneeling in front of any mullah you find, and it didnt even work" :rofl:
Manny_Pacquiao Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 rushdie is the coolest indian in the world, IMO.
Lurker Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 So had Rushdie been not hounded out of India, would his views be held with same respect and endearance by everyone, including Indians?? Rushdie is a pertty sane guy but is hardly our greatest writer/intellactual. How come you shower him with such accolodates and forget those who are right amongst our midst?
Lurker Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 ^kaun bola ki hes greatest indian? Well he clearly isnt. But he does garner more attention than any of his contemprories back home. Wonder if there is a reason for this? :nervous:
asterix Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Why is Rushdie allowed to visit India? Wasn't he adviced by the GOI not to come, few months ago? :hmmm:
ravishingravi Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 Well he clearly isnt. But he does garner more attention than any of his contemprories back home. Wonder if there is a reason for this? :nervous: Well the double booker and string of very desirable girlfriends / wives and being the most hated man in muslim world doesn't hurt.
punjabi_khota Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Well he clearly isnt. But he does garner more attention than any of his contemprories back home. Wonder if there is a reason for this? :nervous: Yes. The reason is that he is a muslim who dares to speak against all the things that are wrong with Islam and muslim society, and of course his presence anywhere in India shows a middle finger to the pseudo-secular crap kangress loves so much. The number of such people can be counted on fingers of one hand. Plus he is educated, so when he speaks, he has worldwide credibility.
Lurker Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Yes. The reason is that he is a muslim who dares to speak against all the things that are wrong with Islam and muslim society' date= and of course his presence anywhere in India shows a middle finger to the pseudo-secular crap kangress loves so much. The number of such people can be counted on fingers of one hand. Plus he is educated, so when he speaks, he has worldwide credibility. Not really. Javed Akhtar , for example, does a lot better job and does more often than Rushdie does. What Rushdie does what his Indian counterpart dont do so easily, is to name names and scoff at them(Rahul Gandhi in this case). This is where he has an advantage over Akhtar who would probably have a dharna infront of his home depending on who castigated - mullahs or bhagwas.
Lurker Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Why is Rushdie allowed to visit India? Wasn't he adviced by the GOI not to come' date=' few months ago? :hmmm:[/quote'] :giggle: And how come he arrived here, made a fiery speech and went back so easy? Were we not having heart attacks on how psecs we have become that freedom of speech is not being apprciated anymore in India???
punjabi_khota Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 :giggle: And how come he arrived here, made a fiery speech and went back so easy? Were we not having heart attacks on how psecs we have become that freedom of speech is not being apprciated anymore in India??? Election khatam ho gaye babu :acute: Ab kya karenge rahul bhaiya PSEC banke :hysterical::hysterical: Agle hafte ek aur election karva do, abhi 3-4 intelligence reports rahul bhaiya apni g@nd se nikal ke chapwa denge paper mein Rushdie ke 'safety' ke liye
Lurker Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Election khatam ho gaye babu :acute: Ab kya karenge rahul bhaiya PSEC banke :hysterical::hysterical: Agle hafte ek aur election karva do, abhi 3-4 intelligence reports rahul bhaiya apni g@nd se nikal ke chapwa denge paper mein Rushdie ke 'safety' ke liye Arre udhar nahin idhar ki bata kar reha hoon muye :beee: Idhar log ghabra gaye ke the Secularism khatre mein, Rushdie ko kyun nahin aane diya. Ab aake chup chaap nikal liya woh...Secularism restoration ka celebration hona tha thora :clap:
ravishingravi Posted March 21, 2012 Author Posted March 21, 2012 http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/the-buck-stops-here/mindset-of-rushdie-is-that-of-a-small-man-says-imran-khan/226916?hp
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