Irresponsible comment

Sir — Speaking at the 10th annual PEN World Voices Festival in New York, noted author Salman Rushdie is reported to have expressed great concern over the prospects of Mr Narendra Modi running a “fairly bullying Government” in India and how “the attacks on the freedom of expression could worsen”.

It is ridiculous that authors and intellectuals like Mr Rushdie who are foreigners for all practical purposes with limited, awareness of the Indian scene, act as doom-forcasters. Their approach is typically shaped by cliches and an unrealistic and jaundiced mindset. 

Mr Rushdie seems to have forgotten how he was humiliated during the Jaipur literature Festival which he could not attend, under Congress rule. By implicitly accusing Mr Modi of being a bully, opposed to freedom of expression, Mr Rushdie is pooh-poohing the democratic choice of the vast majority of the Indian electorate who are most likely to favour Mr Modi as Prime Minister.