Deoband opposes 'controversial' authors at litfest

January 23, 2013 14:36

Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband today demanded that "controversial authors" be kept away from the Jaipur Literature Festival in Pink City.

Deoband's demand comes on the heels of some Muslim groups warning JLF organisers against inviting authors who have "hurt" the religious sentiments of the community, including Jeet Thayil, Ruchir Joshi, Hari Kunzuru and Amitava Kumar, who had read out passages from Salman Rushdie's banned Satanic Verses at the event last year.

"India is a secular country and every citizen has a right to raise his voice under the ambit of law. However, some controversial authors invited to the JLF have hurt religious sentiments in the past," Vice-Chancellor Maulana Abdul Qasim Nomani said. "The Darul Uloom Deoband has asked the government to stop such authors from visiting the country."

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Meet Baldev Kumar from Punjab, first outsider to contest J-K LS polls

The abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 paved the way for outsiders to contest polls in the Union Territory.

IPL PIX: Rahul, de Kock power LSG to easy win over CSK

Openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock hit fifties as LSG trounced CSK by eight wickets.

Phase 1 sees nearly 63% polling amid stray incidents of violence

"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC...

Manipur records 68% polling marred by violence, firing, booth capturing

At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot...

Air India to soon have new crew management system

Air India will soon have a new crew management system that will help strengthen rostering rules and enable faster recovery from scheduled disruptions. In a message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that...