New Delhi/Chandigarh: Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie today joined the growing chorus of protests by writers and poets against spread of "communal poison" and "rising intolerance" in the country even as 12 more authors decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards.

"I support Nayantara Sahgal and the many other writers protesting to the Sahitya Akademi. Alarming times for free expression in India," he tweeted.