Rushdie knighted in honours list

Salman Rushdie, who went into hiding under threat of death after an Iranian fatwa, has been knighted by the Queen.

His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and a bounty was placed on his head in 1989.

But since the Indian-born author returned to public life in 1999, he has not shied away from controversy.

A devout secularist, he backed Commons Leader Jack Straw over comments on Muslim women and veils and has warned against Islamic "totalitarianism".

The son of a successful businessman, Sir Salman was born into a Muslim family in Mumbai in 1947.

He was educated in England at Rugby School and studied history at Cambridge University.

Booker prize

Following an advertising career in London, he became a full-time writer.

But his second effort - the magic realist novel Midnight's Children - catapulted him to literary fame.

It won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was awarded the Booker of Bookers in 1993 after being judged the best novel to have won the prize during its 25-year history.

Sir Salman, who turns 60 on 19 June, is renowned as a purveyor of story as political statement.

Death sentence

He takes history and fictionalises it, with imaginative brilliance, and much of his work is set in his native India and Pakistan.

His fourth book - The Satanic Verses in 1988 - describes a cosmic battle between good and evil and combines fantasy, philosophy and farce.

It was immediately condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

It was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities and in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader, issued a fatwa, ordering Sir Salman's execution.

In 1998, the Iranian government said it would no longer support the fatwa, but some groups have said it is irrevocable.

Despite living as a virtual prisoner, with full police protection, Sir Salman continued to write and produced several novels and essays during his confinement.

His re-emergence has not been without controversy.

In backing Jack Straw over his comments on Muslim women wearing veils, Sir Salman said veils "suck" as they were a symbol of the "limitation of women".

He also weighed into the furore surrounding the Danish cartoons, which satirised the Prophet Muhammad, warning against Islamic "totalitarianism".

Of his knighthood for services to literature, Rushdie said: "I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour, and am very grateful that my work has been recognised in this way."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6756149.stm

Britain and Pakistan are involved in a growing diplomatic dispute over the award of a knighthood to the author, Salman Rushdie.

The BBC reports Pakistan summoned the British High Commissioner in Islamabad to protest at what it described as Britain's utter lack of sensitivity over the issue.

Iran has also condemned the award of a knighthood. Iran issued a religious edict in 1989 calling for Rushdie to be killed because it considered his novel, The Satanic Verses, was blasphemous against Islam.

The British government says the honour was "richly deserved".

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200706200744/growing_dispute_over_knighthood_for_salman_rushdie

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The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta,
held as a votive, not in vain, for the value
and veracity of such shall one day vindicate
the vigilant and the virtuous.
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Pakistan calls in UK ambassador over Rushdie

Pakistan summoned the British ambassador on Tuesday and told him giving a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" outraged many Muslims, was insensitive and there were protests around the country.

Rushdie, whose book prompted the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa against him for blaspheming against Islam, was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours list.

Pakistanis protested in several cities on Tuesday chanting "Death to Rushdie" and burning effigies of the British author, born in Bombay to Muslim parents in 1947 and educated at an exclusive British school and Cambridge University.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said British High Commissioner Robert Brinkley had been called in.

"He was told that Salman Rushdie has been a controversial figure who is known less for his literary contribution and more for his offensive and insulting writing which deeply hurts the sentiments of Muslims all over the world," she said.

"Conferment of a knighthood on Salman Rushdie shows an utter lack of sensitivity on the part of the British government."

The Pakistani parliament passed a resolution on Monday deploring the knighthood, and the religious affairs minister said the honour could be used to justify suicide bombings.

He later said he did not mean such attacks would be justified but the comment caused a storm of protest.

Britain said it was concerned about the minister's comments and nothing could justify suicide blasts.

"The High Commissioner made clear the British government's deep concern at what the minister for religious affairs was reported to have said," a British Foreign Office spokesman said.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said he did not know if the minister was accurately quoted but "it's safe to assume we don't share the view."

Rushdie's book prompted protests, some violent, by Muslims in many countries after it was published in 1988. Muslims say the novel blasphemed against the Prophet Mohammad and ridiculed the Koran and events in early Muslim history.

Khomeini, issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989. Fearing for his life, he was forced into hiding for nine years.


"NO INSULT INTENDED"

Brinkley said on Monday Rushdie's knighthood was a reflection of his contribution to literature and was not intended as an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammad.

Islam was the second largest religion in Britain and was regarded with the highest level of respect, he said.

Aslam said the knighthood was resented by all Muslims.

"The British High Commissioner was further told that Pakistan deplores and regrets this decision which is contrary to our common objective of building inter-civilisational and inter-religious understanding and harmony," she said.

Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq again said his comments on Monday, that the knighthood could be used to justify suicide bombings, were not meant to incite violence.

But he said it was a fact that the honour could motivate potential suicide bombers, and added that the knighthood should be withdrawn and Britain should apologise to all Muslims.

"These are things which inflame sentiments, which create provocation and which lead to spreading extremism," Haq told a news conference. "These are steps which add fuel to the fire of hatred."

Haq is the son of late military president Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, whose policies of Islamisation in the 1980s are often blamed for sowing the seeds of Islamist militancy.

Islamist parties called for a countrywide protest on Friday.




http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-06-19T231156Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_India-303829-3.xml&archived=False

__________________
*********************************
The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta,
held as a votive, not in vain, for the value
and veracity of such shall one day vindicate
the vigilant and the virtuous.
*********************************

Pakistan turns to OIC on Rushdie



Nirupama Subramanian





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Near-isolation in Islamic world for Islamabad

More heat in Parliament than on the streets
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ISLAMABAD: Finding itself in near-isolation in the Islamic war over the Rushdie knighthood affair, Pakistan is trying to rope in the Organisation of Islamic Conference to take a stand on the issue. Pakistan started a diplomatic row with the United Kingdom over the British Government’s honour to the author, and Iran quickly followed, but other countries in the Muslim world have been quiet.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said at her weekly briefing on Monday she could not comment on the silence of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia or Indonesia. But she said Pakistan had “formally approached the Organisation of Islamic Countries to take a position” on the knighthood.
Pakistan’s National Assembly adopted a second resolution last Friday against the knighthood to author Salman Rushdie, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz joining in the growing chorus of condemnation of the British Government for refusing to withdraw the honour.

The second resolution by the parliamentary Lower House said the British Government had “not only disappointed the Pakistani people but also injured their sentiments” by ignoring the National Assembly’s first resolution on June 18 asking that the title of “Sir” to Mr. Rushdie be withdrawn, and renewed the demand. The Senate also passed a resolution making the same demand.

Mr. Aziz said on the floor of the House that the British decision “has hurt the feelings of Muslims”. He said Muslims “will never tolerate derogatory remarks” against Prophet Muhammad.

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the resolutions in the National Assembly and the Senate represented the sentiments of the people of Pakistan.

But the knighthood controversy seems to have generated more heat in Parliament and in the corridors of Government than on the streets. Unlike at the time of the Danish cartoons controversy, there were only sporadic protests against the award to Mr. Rushdie, and they had died down completely by the end of the week.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/26/stor...2651551400.htm

__________________
*********************************
The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta,
held as a votive, not in vain, for the value
and veracity of such shall one day vindicate
the vigilant and the virtuous.
*********************************