After confirming that he would speak at the Festival, Rushdie was informed by Jaipur police that assassins were planning to kill him. (For over a decade, Rushdie had been the subject of a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran.) Due to the apparent assassination plot, Rushdie pulled out of the Festival, though he planned to address the event by video instead. Several Muslim organisations in Jaipur began demonstrating against Rushdie, so even the video appearance was cancelled in the interests of Festival security.
Four of the Festival's speakers - Amitava Kumar, Hari Kunzru, Ruchir Joshi, and Jeet Thayil - recited passages from The Satanic Verses in solidarity with Rushdie, though one of the Festival's organisers, Namita Gokhale, requested that they stop. They were subsequently interviewed by police, and are now facing criminal charges.
After further investigation, Rushdie now believes that the assassination plot was a hoax perpetrated by the police, in an effort to stop him attending the Festival. Questions are also being asked of the Festival's organisers, and their refusal to defend Rushdie.
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