Banning Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses was 'wrong' says Indian minister

Former minister P Chidambaram tells audience he has ‘no hesitation’ in saying ban on Rushdie’s controversial novel was wrong – but 27-year embargo stands

India’s ban on The Satanic Verses in 1988 was “wrong”, a former minister from Rajiv Gandhi’s government has said, prompting Salman Rushdie to ask how long it will take for the “mistake” to be corrected.

Speaking at the Times literary festival in Delhi on Saturday, former finance minister P Chidambaram told an audience that “I have no hesitation in saying that the ban was wrong”, the Times of India reported. The October 1988 ban from Rajiv Gandhi’s government prevented the book from being imported to India, and is still in place. Chidambaram was minister of state for home when the ban occurred.

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