Barring a few, Indian leaders mum on Salman Rushdie

While a few Indian politicians condemned the attack on internationally acclaimed Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie, the top-most leaders among the Indian political class mostly chose to refrain from commenting or condemning the dastardly attack.

Thirty-four years have passed since India banned Rushdie's "Satanic Verses," for which the writer was condemned by a fatwa from the Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

No official statement from PM Narendra Modi, the BJP or the Gandhis and the Congress - or most regional biggies including most chief ministers or the so-called Gen Next leaders - have come till the time of writing on Saturday evening about the murderous attack on Rushdie in New York on Friday.


Among the notable Indian politicians, who have, till the time of going to press, publicly condemned the attack on Rushdie included Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammad Khan, Congress Parliamentarians Shashi Tharoor, Karti Chidambaram, , CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Independent parliamentarian Kapil Sibal, CPI(ML) leader Kavita Krishnan ad Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.