An Indian court ended the banning of the controversial novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ of Salman Rushdie after authorities could not locate the original decades-old order restricting his imports.
The Indian-born British-American writer lived through decades of persecution after Iran’s supreme leader ordered his assassination for considering that book blasphemous.
He almost died in 2022, when a young American of Lebanese origin stabbed him 12 times when he was going to give a conference in New York state.
Banned since 1988
In India, where Rushdie was born 77 years ago, his most controversial work had been banned since 1988the year of its publication.
However, this week, the Delhi High Court revoked the ban after a complaint filed in 2019 by Sandipan Khan, a reader who wanted to buy the book.
The court noted that “none of those requested” could present the original notice banning the book, so this reader can now import it from abroad.
“We have no choice but “We must understand that this notification does not exist,” the court said.
‘The Satanic Verses’ is set in the London of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and in ancient Mecca, the holiest site in Islam.
Blasphemous to many Muslims
Many Muslims considered it blasphemous and sacrilegious for references to verses that, according to some scholars, were part of an early version of the Quran and were later removed.
In India, then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi banned the import a month after its publication to try to win the support of the strong Muslim minority before an election.
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