NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian Islamic leader said on Friday the country`s Moslems must be ready to sacrifice anything to stop British author Salman Rushdie from stepping on Indian soil. "Indian Moslems be prepared for any sacrifice... from the time he steps on Indian soil, we will follow him everywhere. If we have to give our lives, we are ready," Syed Ahmad Bukhari told a packed Friday prayer gathering at one of India`s largest mosques, the Jama Masjid. Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called on Moslems to kill Rushdie in an edict, or "fatwa", issued in February 1989. Rushdie was accused of blaspheming Islam in his novel "The Satanic Verses". On Wednesday Indian authorities issued Rushdie with a visa to visit India, his birthplace. Indian officials say Rushdie will be given security, in what will be his first visit since New Delhi imposed a ban on his book soon afcter its publication. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party which leads the coalition government said it was wrong to issue fatwas and Rushdie had a right to visit his country of origin. But Bukhari said the author`s planned visit to India would inflame passions and held the government responsible for any incidents. The publication of "The Satanic Verses" prompted protests and riots by Moslems in India. In 1989, 12 people were killed and 17 wounded in Bombay when police opened fire to prevent a crowd of 10,000 marching on the British Deputy High Commission. In the following weeks, at least four people were killed and hundreds injured in other protests across India, where about 12 percent of the population of roughly 960 million is Moslem. Bukhari asked Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to intervene to stop the visit to assuage the feelings of Indian Moslems. "We will not allow such a man to step on Indian soil".