On the anniversary of Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses
Twenty years after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa – an edict under Islamic law – against Salman Rushdie for publication of The Satanic Verses, the novel is being reevaluated. It continues to call into question issues of freedom of speech and the press. What is the role of a writer? Does freedom of speech trump the concerns of minorities?
The novel bears the honor of being the one of the most disparaged – and least read – books in modern history. The controversy began in Britain, when Muslims called for the suppression of the novel. After their complaints went unheeded, they arranged a very visible book burning ceremony. (The protesters only owned one copy, and the book needed gasoline to alight.) Media coverage fanned the flames of the conflagration and before long the book had been banned in eleven countries, including Rusdhie’s native India. Rushdie spent a decade in hiding from 1989 to 1998.
Read the full review here.
–Deji Olukotun
