Rajiv Gandhi govt's ban on Satanic Verses was a mistake: Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the ban on Salman Rushdie's book 'The Satanic Verses' by the Rajiv Gandhi government was a mistake.

"I have no hesitation in saying that the ban on Salman Rushdie's book was a mistake," Chidambaram said at the Times Literary Festival. Chidambaram was a minister of state in the Rajiv Gandhi government (1984-89). India was the first country to ban 'The Satanic Verses' after some Muslims complained about its blasphemous content.

The senior Congress leader also expressed concern at the rising "illiberalism" in the country while addressing a session at the literary festival on 'Is India a liberal republic?' "Recently, illiberalism is on rise. However, illiberalism has always failed," he said. Chidambaram said: "You cannot be a modern liberal society till you eliminate every idea that fosters inequality."

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the gathering that the Supreme Court should reconsider its judgment banning homosexual sex. "Supreme Court's 2014 verdict banning gay sex is not in accordance with evolving legal jurisprudence and court needs to reconsider it," Jaitley said.

The Finance Minister who is also a senior advocate spoke about 'Five legal cases that have shaped Indian democracy', and counted the Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala as the most important.