New Delhi: Salman Rushdie's proposed visit to Jaipur for the Literary Festival has come under cloud as Islamic Seminary the Darul Uloom Deoband wants the government to cancel Rushdie's visa for hurting the sentiments of Muslims in the past."Indian government should cancel his visa as Rushdie had annoyed the religious sentiments of Muslims in the past," Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, the Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom, said in a release.
The government should take into account the feelings of Muslims against Rushdie, he stressed.

However, Rushdie said that he does not need a visa for visiting India. He tweeted, "Re: my Indian visit, for the record, I don't need a visa."
Rushdie had a fatwa on his head since 1989 after he published 'The Satanic Verses', but is scheduled is to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival this month end. He has visited the Literature festival before, in 2007. The fatwa was eased in 1998, but not withdrawn when Mohd Khatami's government said it had no intention to help anyone enforce it.
However, one of the organisers of the prestigious literary festival said Rushdie would be coming as scheduled.
On January 21, Rushdie along with authors Rita Kothari and Tarun Tejpal is slated to discuss the nuances of English with noted writer Ira Pande on the topic 'Inglish, Amlish, Hinglish: The chutnification of English'.
"We will write to the external affairs ministry, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi if the government doesn't cancel his visa," Nomani said.
Rushdie has been invited to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival January 20 to 24.
Sanjoy Roy, managing director of Teamworks Productions, which produces the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, "A literature platform like the Jaipur festival is a place for free speech in the best democratic traditions. Salman Rushdie has attended several literary events and forums in India in recent years without incident. This includes his attending the Commonwealth Writers Prize awards in 2000, and the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2007."
"In plural societies such as ours, it is imperative that we continue to allow avenues for unfettered literary expression," he added.
The writer is expected to take part in literary sessions on "Inglish, Amlish, Hinglish: The Chutneyfication of English" and "Shehar aur Sapna: The City as a Dream."
The 65-year-old author had been under attack by Islamic hardliners for his controversial book "The Satanic Verses", published in 1988, for "allegedly blasphemy" against Prophet Mohammed. India was among the first countries to ban the book.
Rushdie has been in India twice since the controversy. His first visit in 2000 to the country of his birth 12 years after "Satanic Verses" was banned created a flutter in the media. The writer was escorted around with unprecedented security.
In 2007, Rushdie attended the festival at Jaipur. The visit came despite protests by some Muslim groups.
Last year, speculative media reports that he had been invited to attend a Kashmiri literary festival, Harud, had whipped up a controversy in Jammu and Kashmir. The festival was eventually called off.
The novel triggered controversy soon after it was published. Muslims world over protested, some of which turned violent. It also invited a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini, the late supreme leader of Iran. Khomeini in February 1989 called for the death of Rushdie and his publishers