Threat of Violence Quashes Even Virtual Rushdie Appearance Salman Rushdie's virtual participation at the Jaipur Literature Festival was canceled at the last minute Tuesday, after Muslim groups attending the festival threatened violence if his image was shown. Mr. Rushdie was scheduled to address thousands of Lit Fest attendees by video conference Tuesday afternoon, after cancelling an in-person appearance. ""There are a large number of people adverse to this link in and around this property and they have threatened violence,"" said Thakur Ram Pratap Singh of Diggi, the owner of Diggi Palace, the festival venue. ""This decision is necessary to protect everyone here,"" he said. Mr. Rushdie's plans to attend the literature festival stirred controversy in the days before it opened and he ultimately said on the first day that he would not attend, citing a risk to his personal safety. Mr. Rushdie's ""The Satanic Verses"" was banned in India in 1988 and he has been the target of criticism and a fatwa from Muslim groups. His life was threatened several times in the run up to the festival, Rajasthan officials told festival organizers. Festival organizers took Mr. Rushdie's name off the schedule and moved the session, Midnight's Child, a discussion on the adaptation of his book into a feature film, from a prime time weekend slot to Tuesday. Until minutes before the session was set to start, festival-goers held out hope that they would catch a glimpse of the revered author at the rescheduled event. Around 4 p.m., festival organizers called it off. ""Even as I speak there are large crowds gathering in parks who are marching"" toward Diggi Palace, said Sanjoy Roy, the founder and organizer of the festival. Minutes before Mr. Rushdie was scheduled to speak at 3:45 p.m., festival organizers were still huddled with representatives from the local police and the Rajasthan Muslim Forum, an umbrella group which represents nearly 20 Muslim organizations including the India Milli Council (an official from the group has filed a complaint about Jaipur Literature Festival authors reading from ""The Satanic Verses"" at the festival) and the Indian Union Muslim League. ""The very image of Salman was an issue,"" Mr. Roy said later. ""Even seeing his face for them was intolerable."" After appealing to every media house covering the event to continue this debate, he teared up and walked off stage. ""We are all for freedom of expression but it has to come with responsibility,"" said Salim Engineer, a member of Islamic group Jamaat-e-Islami, which is part of the Rajasthan Muslim Forum. ""We have a problem with the video conference because we are sure he would say something provocative,"" he said. ""What if he reads something from "The Satanic Verses"?"" Mr. Engineer said he has not read ""The Satanic Verses,"" but said that it has ""derogatory remarks against Islam, the prophet and the Holy Koran. He has called verses from the Koran satanic verses,"" he said. Both attending authors and the audience have been protesting the alleged threat to Mr Rushdie's attendance on social media as well as at the festival venue. Four authors including Hari Kunzru, without permission from or discussion with the festival's organizers, read from ""The Satanic Verses"" on Friday night. Following this, they were quietly asked to leave the festival by the organizers. Organizers said they were concerned about ""balancing free expression with their responsibility to obey the law and keep the event safe."