The author of The Satanic Verses excoriates Imran Khan for claiming to be 'immeasurably hurt' by the novel, and calls on Indians to defend freedom of expression
'Publishers are more frightened to publish' ... Salman Rushdie speaking on 21 March in New York. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Salman Rushdie has called on Indians to wake up and fight for free speech because "voices are being silenced" and "a combination of religious fanaticism, political opportunism and public apathy is damaging that freedom upon which all other freedoms depend: the freedom of expression".
Rushdie was speaking last week at a conference in Delhi. The author had replaced Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan as lead speaker at the India Today Conclave, after Khan pulled out, citing the "immeasurable hurt" which Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses had caused to Muslims, and saying he would not appear on a programme which included Rushdie.
After a thorough demolition of Khan for his comments – "In the real world, I would say 'immeasurable hurt' is caused to the way in which Muslims are seen by the terrorists based in Pakistan, who act in the name of Islam, including those who attack this country from Pakistan, backed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, with whom Imran Khan now wants India to sit down and talk" – Rushdie challenged the politician to a debate over the literary merits of The Satanic Verses. "[It's] a book which I would be willing to place a substantial bet that Imran Khan has not read," said Rushdie. "Back in the day when he was a playboy in London, the most common nickname for him in the London circles was 'Im the dim'. The force of intellect which earned him that nickname is now placed at the service of his people, and its enemy, it seems, is my book. If Imran really wants to argue about the literary merits of The Satanic Verses, I am happy to meet him in a debate on that subject anywhere and any time. Well, maybe not anywhere."
He went on to make an impassioned plea for the importance of free speech to his audience. "Who would be against freedom? It's a word everyone would automatically be 'for', one would think. A free society is one in which a thousand flowers bloom, in which a thousand and one voices speak. And what a simple and grand idea that seems. It's like that copper goddess standing in the harbour, enlightening the world. But in our time, many essential freedoms are in danger of defeat, and not only in totalitarian or authoritarian states," said Rushdie in his speech, now posted online in full by the conference's organisers
Full story at The Guardian
Rushdie was speaking last week at a conference in Delhi. The author had replaced Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan as lead speaker at the India Today Conclave, after Khan pulled out, citing the "immeasurable hurt" which Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses had caused to Muslims, and saying he would not appear on a programme which included Rushdie.
After a thorough demolition of Khan for his comments – "In the real world, I would say 'immeasurable hurt' is caused to the way in which Muslims are seen by the terrorists based in Pakistan, who act in the name of Islam, including those who attack this country from Pakistan, backed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, with whom Imran Khan now wants India to sit down and talk" – Rushdie challenged the politician to a debate over the literary merits of The Satanic Verses. "[It's] a book which I would be willing to place a substantial bet that Imran Khan has not read," said Rushdie. "Back in the day when he was a playboy in London, the most common nickname for him in the London circles was 'Im the dim'. The force of intellect which earned him that nickname is now placed at the service of his people, and its enemy, it seems, is my book. If Imran really wants to argue about the literary merits of The Satanic Verses, I am happy to meet him in a debate on that subject anywhere and any time. Well, maybe not anywhere."
He went on to make an impassioned plea for the importance of free speech to his audience. "Who would be against freedom? It's a word everyone would automatically be 'for', one would think. A free society is one in which a thousand flowers bloom, in which a thousand and one voices speak. And what a simple and grand idea that seems. It's like that copper goddess standing in the harbour, enlightening the world. But in our time, many essential freedoms are in danger of defeat, and not only in totalitarian or authoritarian states," said Rushdie in his speech, now posted online in full by the conference's organisers
Full story at The Guardian