As right-wing scare tactics sweep India, how do liberal institutions like the Jaipur Literature festival fit in?

Given Modi’s landslide victory in the general election, it’s unclear as to how the country’s progressive thinkers will get through to the majority of the population, writes Adam Withnall

Barkha Dutt, Indian TV journalist, talks to Oprah Winfrey at the 2012 Jaipur Literature Festival (EPA)

Some of the world’s most successful authors descended on the dusty desert city of Jaipur in India this weekend for what organisers describe as the greatest literary show on Earth.

But while the likes of Howard Jacobson, John Lanchester and Elizabeth Gilbert indulged fans and promoted their latest novels, the festival has also become a key annual talking shop for India’s liberal elite.

Not everyone views it that way – in past years, Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) has courted controversy by inviting speakers from the far-right RSS, the volunteer movement that underpins Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party. In 2012, the festival was criticised for inviting Salman Rushdie and then effectively disinviting him because his safety couldn’t be guaranteed.