Nothing to do with denial of permission to Rushdie: Congress

Congress today dismissed charges of controversial author Salman Rushdie that the party or the government were responsible for denial of permission for his video address at the Jaipur Literary Festival.

"We are not here to get into an argument with any particular individual. We have made two or three simple points. No state government can afford to ignore inputs and material regarding security threat to any person," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

Noting that it was the duty of the state government to carry both the Union Home Ministry and the organisers, he said "if tomorrow some untoward incident happens, you will the first to blame that very government for not communicating."

He said that the state government has always stood ready to provide security but on the basis of those inputs firstly Mr Rushdie on his own has decided not to come and thereafter the organisers have cancelled the link. "There is no question of government of India doing that."

"It is not that Rushdie has not come earlier. He is not banned from entry into the country. And why to link the Congress party with it. Nothing to do with it. Let us not get into unnecessary controversies. Because it is nothing but the manifestation of rather febrile and fertile imagination," he added.