approve of such activities speaking to sunday times earlier kunzru had said that the whole issue painted a negative image of india abroad its pathetic especially now when the world is looking at india with a sharper focus than ever before the economy is growing and indians are doing well globally and here is a government that cannot support one of its bestknown authors though kunzrus act went beyond what most at the festival would risk doing almost every author and speaker here has expressed apprehension about how it will impact india negatively andrew phillips ceo and president penguin india went so far as to say that this episode wasnt going to be such a big deal in the world press but thats not what should bother indians whether it affects their image or not the bigger issue is of freedom of speech which everybody enjoys he said joseph lelyveld pulitzerwinning journalist and author whose book on gandhi great soul was banned by gujarat last year said that preventing rushdie from entering india reflected poorly on the country as rushdie has been travelling and speaking freely for almost 15 years now lelyvelds book had attracted controversy for apparent unsavoury references to gandhis relationship with his german friend herman kallenbach despite this it has been received well in india claims the author if you say india is touchy about certain things then let me give you the example of some selfappointed americans who refused to eat french fries after the french president had condemned the us invasion of iraq politicians do small minded things the world over he adds