Salman Rushdie is over-rated

That Rushdie can rattle the festival still is a tragedy of colonial hangover to Indians. Guys like him and Naipaul are now fast becoming anathema and irrelevant in an India moving at multi-speeds. With the exception of folks like late RK Narayan , Ruskin Bond, and maybe late Nirad C Choudhary (just for the sheer knowledge he possessed), no living writer of Pre-Independent writerly era has kept up ...with what the New India has become or the aspirations of Indians post 1980s. They make provocative pronouncements which hurt Indians. Which is why, I agree with Chetan Bhagat's outburst against Salam Rushdie that a writer who offends the sensibilities of its people should be disowned, or something to that effect. Chetan may be cleverly talking his books up but more people have read him than the likes of all of Naipaul and Rushdie together in India. And what are we paying tribute to guys like Rushdie - so what if he and Naipaul have won Booker and Nobels. I have found more empathy to India from writers who are not PIOs than the so-called PIOs. E.g. Paul Brunton, Somerset Maugham, William Dalrympyle, Patrick French,Arthur Osborne even Mark Tully. We don't want wife-beaters, ill-gotten Elites and girlfriend-seekers to give their opinions on India. And no, their views are not relevant or needed here. Lets move on from the days of Raj.