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Relenting to pressure from various Muslim groups and political parties, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has revoked permission to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for filming controversial writer Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children in Sri Lanka.
In a letter to BBC producer Christopher Hall earlier this week, Secretary to the President K Balapatabendi said that "having considered all aspects involved in the film, the government of Sri Lanka is regrettably unable to grant permission to BBC to proceed with the filming of it."
Muslim leaders who had stepped up the campaign against the filming of the novel here on Thursday welcomed the decision.
"When India had good reasons to reject permission, why should we allow it. The permission has been revoked in the interests of ethnic unity and we are grateful to the President for taking this decision," said Minister for Provincial Councils, Alavi Maulana.
He and two other Muslim Ministers and parliamentarians of the ruling People's Alliance coalition made several representations to Kumaratunga not to allow the BBC to film the novel here.
Following the letter to the BBC from the President's secretariat, a production crew of the jinxed project, which was preparing the ground for the shooting scheduled to begin here January 1998, will return to the UK
In a statement issued in London, the corporation said it has "postponed indefinitely" its plans to film the Booker Prize winning novel after Sri Lanka's decision to reverse its earlier agreement.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry and National Film Corporation in October gave BBC the go-ahead to shoot the US $ 8 million television project in this country after New Delhi refused them permission to make the film in India.
It was to be a serial in five parts starring Indian actors in the lead roles, as well as 100 Sri Lankan extras and assistants.
In order to play down its authorship, the BBC had even changed the title of the film to 'Salim's Story', as Midnight's Children is immediately identified with Rushdie, whose name is sufficient to provoke anger amongst many Muslims all over the world.
Rushdie's 1989 book, The Satanic Verses, earned him a death sentence from the Late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran who accused him of blaspheming Islam. Rushdie has lived in hiding ever since.
The filming of Midnight's Children, his award-winning book tracing the story of a group of children born at the stroke of Indian independence, was planned by the BBC to mark India's 50th anniversary.
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