Sunday, December 26 2004 16:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Expressing his outrage at British Government's failure to criticise the violent Sikh protests that led to the closure of a play in Birmingham, noted writer Salman Rushdie has noted that the trend had emanated from similar incidents in India.

"This seems to be a trend that has come from India, where extremists have attacked a number of artistic and cultural events, with very little control," Rushdie said today (Dec 26, 2004).

"It has been horrifying to see the response. It is pretty terrible to hear Government Ministers expressing approval of the ban and failing to condemn the violence, when they should be supporting freedom of expression," Rushdie, winner of the Booker prize for 'Midnight's Children', said in an interview published in 'The Sunday Telegraph'.

Stating that the Ministers should have stepped in to prevent the closure of the play-- Behzti (Dishonour)-- 57-year-old Rushdie said, "The Home office Minister Fiona Mactaggart is sending entirely the wrong message. It should be quite clear that, in this Country, it is the liberty of any artist to express their view of their own society and their own community. Frankly, bookshops and theatres are full of things that would upset an interest group."

Rushdie said the Sikh protestors who forced the closure had adopted the violent tactics used in India.

"Works by some of India's most revered artists have been attacked by Shiv Sena and now the Sikh community here are travelling down a similar path," he said.

Rushdie's outburst was sparked by the refusal of the Government to offer support for either the theatre or the author following protests by a 400-strong violent mob last weekend.

Sikh groups organised the demonstrations because part of the play, which involves scenes of rape and murder, takes place in a Gurdwara.

Rushdie was sentenced to death by Iranian clerics in 1989 after his novel 'The Satanic Verses' was condemned by them as blasphemous. He went into hiding till the 'fatwa' was lifted in 1998.

The writer said he had been offered much more official support than Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, the Sikh playwright of Behzti who has been forced to leave her London home.

"In 1989, when The Satanic Verses was attacked, all political parties were united in their condemnation of the violence and their support for the principle for freedom of expression. It seems that the Blair Government's capacity to disappoint knows no bounds," he said.

Behzti has been described as a black comedy and tackles subjects such as rape and murder within a Sikh community.

"The question it raises is whether such things are actually happening within the Sikh community. If it is true that things are going on in Gurdwaras that should be exposed, then this episode needs to be examined in a new light," Rushdie said.