Sad chapter in history of Jaipur lit fest ends
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From right: Barkha Dutt, Javed Akhtar, Tarun Tejpal, Rahul Bose and Shoma Choudhary
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By Aditi Mathur
JAIPUR (Jan. 25)—When the official announcement was made at the last minute on Tuesday afternoon that Salman Rushdie would not be addressing the Jaipur Literature Festival, the festival-goers’ reaction was one of muted resignation.
I was one of a 1,000-strong crowd gathered on the Front Lawns of Diggi Palace around 4 p.m., when the venue owner, Ram Pratap Singh, confirmed the bad news that had already spread along the grapevine. There was some booing from college students sitting on the ground by the stage, but that was about it.
“I have taken a decision not to allow the video conference to go ahead on the advice of Rajasthan police,” a grim-looking Singh said. “There are a large number of people who are inside the property and a large number who are marching towards the property. This is necessary to avoid violence and harm to the property and my family.”
The festival producer, Sanjoy Roy, took the microphone. He became tearful as he voiced his regret over the necessity to pull the plug on the video link plan. It was a move, he said, that was taken for the safety of innocent spectators and dignitaries who had traveled from all over the world to attend the event.
“We are having to step down from the freedom of expression, write and tell stories,” Roy said. “It’s not a decision to support. We have been pushed to the wall.”
Roy said the festival organizers had been informed by the police that large crowds were gathering in various parts of the city and planning to march on Diggi Palace.
As soon as the announcement was made, people began relaying the news via SMSs and tweets.
I could see anger and disappointment on some faces, but most people seemed to accept the organizers’ decision.
On the festival’s last day, the single day I attended, there never seemed to be a realistic threat of violence breaking out, and nothing discouraged people from attending the canceled videoconference session with Rushdie—even though hard-line Muslim groups made a lot of noise.
Several activists of Muslim group the Milli Council were at Diggi Palace in the afternoon. They held an hours-long meeting with the organizers in which they demanded that the video address be called off, reportedly threatening violence if it was not.
Muslim activists were easily identifiable amid the crowd. Some read from The Koran in the middle of sessions. Others yelled at reporters to go away and warned that “if the video link goes live, there will be fighting and violence.”
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People gathered for Salman Rushdie's videoconference at the Front Lawns at Diggi Palace in Jaipur on Tuesday. The organizers later announced the cancellation of his session due to protests from the Muslim Council.
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On the stage from where Rushdie’s video image was to have been broadcast, an impromptu debate on freedom of speech was held among actor and activist Rahul Bose; Tehelka editor in chief Tarun Tejpal; Shoma Chaudhury, Tehelka’s managing editor; lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar; Barkha Dutt, NDTV’s group editor; and others. They invited Prof. Salim Engineer, the national secretary of Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, to join them on stage.
Engineer described Rushdie as a “criminal,” who “provoked Muslims” and “misused the freedom of expression.”
“Islam means peace, and we have not threatened violence,” he said.
“Would it be personally OK with you if Rushdie’s video address went on air?” Tejpal asked Engineer.
A flustered Engineer struggled to answer.
“What? What is your question?” he spluttered, drawing laughter from the audience.
Akhtar talked about the freedom of expression, mentioning the case of the late exiled painter M.F. Husain, and declared that “I am first Indian, second Indian and third Indian, and my stand [on the Rushdie issue] is very neutral.”
“The book is banned, but who said the person is also banned?” Akhtar said. “Is it ethical to ban the person himself from entering his own country and express his opinion?”
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Members of the audience list to the impromptu debate on free speech.
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The debate was briefly interrupted when a member of the Muslim Council stood up abruptly and shouted: “Don’t test our patience! If you want peace, than watch your words!”
The drama over Rushdie’s nonattendance notwithstanding, my lasting memory of the 2012 Jaipur Literature Festival will be of seeing families, youngsters, and schoolchildren spiritedly debating authors’ ideas—showing a keen interest in literature in a country where it sometimes seems only films and celebrities can attract crowds.
(Mathur, an IIJNM alumnus, is a correspondent with International Business Times in Bangalore.)
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