Organizers of the Jaipur Literary Festival have been asked by a few conservative Muslim clerics to ban speakers that supported Salman Rushdie last in last year's event from speaking at the festival.

Last January, an appearance of Salman Rushdie at the Jaipur Literary Festival was cancelled at the last minute after the organizers of the event received threats and protest from some local Islamic group. To protest the cancellation, four authors who were Rushdie supporters read  portions of the Satanic Verses, the 1988 book that is still banned in India.

Now, organizers have received requests from a group of conservative Muslim clerics to ban these authors from speaking at this year's festival.

Sajid Sehrai, an Islamic scholar who organized a meeting in Jaipur at the weekend at which the clerics made their call against the authors, said Rushdie was "a criminal who has committed a heinous crime against all Muslims".

"There is a hidden agenda here ... Freedom of expression to insult Prophet Muhammad will not be tolerated by Muslims. We want to expose the motive of insult," Sehrai told the Guardian. He blamed "the west, Christianity and ... Jews" for a campaign to "defame Islam".

The organizers are in a dilemma now as they have already invited one of the four authors, Jeet Thayil, whose novel Narcopolis was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker prize. "This is what India is all about. There's always someone offended by someone," one organiser told the Guardian.

Sanjoy Roy, a director of the festival confirmed with the local media that there has been no change in the schedule yet. "We have no issues if any groups are trying to express something. They could do that democratically ... We will not get bullied by such fringe elements," he said.

Organizers assure that this demand will in no way lead to a situation similar to last year.