EXPLAINER: The Rushdie controversy

The Jaipur Literature Festival ended Tuesday amid lot of controversy and criticism over the absence of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, with the big question, “Who kept Rushdie out?” doing the rounds.

A campaign was launched to lift the ban on Rushdie’s book on Monday. Four authors were asked to leave the city by the festival organizers for reading excerpts from “The Satanic Verses.” Namita Gokhle, festival cofounder, was quoted as saying, “The continuity of the festival is at peril if the law is broken here.”

The writer had tweeted earlier, saying: “I was told Bombay Mafia don issued weapons to two hitmen to ‘eliminate’ me. Will do video link instead. Damn.”

While Rushdie claimed that he got this information from intelligence sources in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, Mumbai police denied passing on any such information.  

Rushdie later accused Rajasthan authorities of giving false information and tweeted: “I have investigated, & believe that I was indeed lied to. I am outraged and very angry.”

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti accused Congress of using Salman Rushdie and exploiting the situation to gain support of Muslim voters in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

It all started surrounding the publication of Salman Rushdie’s fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, in 1988.

Conservative Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy.

As the controversy spread, the book was banned in India and burned in demonstrations in many nations.

What followed were numerous assassinations, attempted killings, and bombings, as an expression of anger, by Muslims worldwide.

The final blow came on Feb. 14, 1989, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie.

Following the fatwa, Rushdie was provided with protection by the British government. The author was in hiding for a decade.

The Iranian government backed the fatwa against him until 1998, when then Iranian President Mohammad Khatami stated that Iran no longer supported the killing of Rushdie.

Though Rushdie himself has not been physically harmed yet, many associated with the book have been victims of violent attacks.

Hitoshi Igarashi, the book’s Japanese translator, was fatally stabbed in 1991, Ettore Capriolo the Italian translator, was stabbed and seriously injured in the same year, and in 1993 William Nygaard, the publisher in Norway, was shot three times but survived.

It is, therefore, not really surprising that Rushdie agreed to limit his presence at the festival to a videoconference that was canceled.

The hullabaloo over Rushdie’s attendance at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 is nothing new. There have been numerous instances in which the right to free speech has been curbed by opportunistic political and religious forces in India.

Ram Swarup’s “Understanding Islam through Hadis,” which talked of negationism in India was banned here. Taslima Nasreen’s books on women’s liberation , which are often critical of Islam, have triggered violent protests around the globe. Arundhuti Roy’s anti-state sentiments in her essays led to calls for her to be tried for sedition.
Even though fatwas and violent protests are commonly associated with Islam, Hinduism has shown itself to be equally intolerant.

The artist M.F. Husain had to leave his native country over protests against his allegedly anti-Hindu paintings, while the American academic James Laine’s biography of Shivaji Maharaja was banned in India. Last year, the American author Joseph Lelyveld’s biography of Ghandi, “Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India” was outlawed in this country.