Rushdie was granted a five-year multiple-entry visa by the Indian High Commission in London on Wednesday the first time since his controversial book Satanic Verses was banned by the government in 1989 following protests from Muslim organisations criticising the book as blasphemous.

``The government has not just allowed him entry but also welcomed him with open arms,'' said Bukhari. Referring to it as `` the BJP's pre-planned conspiracy against the minorities'' against the Muslims, he said that ``if he dares to enter India,'' he will make sure that the Muslims protest strongly and they ``are even ready to sacrifice their lives.'' He dared the government to lift the ban on Satanic Verses which according to him was rightly banned by the Congress government.

Apart from the impassioned appeal to all the Muslims to organise themselves on the issue, he has also written to the home minister, L.K. Advani, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the British High Commission. Rushdie is an Indian-born British citizen. The BJP vice-president K.L. Sharma criticising the statement from the Jama Masjid said, ``In a secular country such fatwas are not warranted''.