India's biggest literary festival opened on Friday in the absence of star guest Salman Rushdie, whose planned appearance has triggered threats of protests by some Muslim groups.

Rushdie cancelled a speech on the opening day of the Jaipur festival, but organisers said they still hoped the British author would appear at some stage of the five-day gathering.

Muslim groups in Jaipur had planned demonstrations in the city centre on Friday, but withdrew after police promised them Rushdie would not attend the event.

"Police assured us that Salman Rushdie's possible visit has been cancelled (for all the days) so we are withdrawing our protest," Mohammad Nazim, a representative of hardline Jamaat-e-Islami Hind group, told reporters.

Rushdie's 1988 book "The Satanic Verses", which is banned in India, is still seen by many Muslims worldwide as a blasphemous work that insults their religion.

The 65-year-old writer, who was born in Mumbai, spent a decade in hiding after Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death over the novel.

The row over Rushdie's participation at the Jaipur festival began last week with demands from the influential Darululoom Deoband seminary in northern India that he be kept out of the country.

Police on Friday declined to comment on reports that he had cancelled all appearances at the event, while organisers said Rushdie's schedule was uncertain.

"He is not going to be in Jaipur over the next couple of days," festival producer Sanjoy Roy told reporters. "We stand by our invitation to him.

"First and foremost, we stand for the freedom of expression," Roy added. "This is a platform where we allow for free speech as long as it is done in a peaceful and democratic way."

Roy and other organisers met with local Muslim groups on Thursday ahead of the festival's opening day. "We presented our point of view and we heard their point of view," he said.

Political leaders in Rajasthan state, of which Jaipur is the capital, said they had been lobbied by Muslim groups opposed to Rushdie's visit, which would pose a major security challenge.

Rushdie, who attended the festival in 2007 without incident, was due to speak about his 1981 Booker prize-winning novel "Midnight's Children" and also join a panel discussion on how Indians have adapted the English language.

Jaipur Police Commissioner B.L. Soni said that tight security arrangements would be in place throughout the event, which is held in large tents erected in the gardens of an old palace.

The annual Jaipur festival -- which is free to attend -- has mushroomed into a major literary, business and social occasion in the Indian calendar, and it attracts tens of thousands of Indian and foreign visitors.

Among more than 250 speakers this year are US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey, biologist and atheist author Richard Dawkins, and Indian best-selling novelist Chetan Bhagat.

Friday's programme includes novelist Michael Ondaatje, who wrote "The English Patient", and playwright David Hare.