Salman Rushdie, the man who earned wrath from Muslims all across the world by writing insidious and utterly disrespectful things about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be to him) and his holy wives, has once again sparked a row of protests upon his proposed visit to the Jaipur Literary Festival. Opposing controversial author’s visit to India, Islamic Seminary Darul Uloom Deoband said the government should cancel his visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past. Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, which was banned in India, had sparked outrage in the Muslim world, including a fatwa against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on Feb. 14, 1989. “Indian government should cancel his visa as Rushdie had annoyed the religious sentiments of Muslims in the past,” Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom, said in a release. The government should take into account the feelings of Muslims against Rushdie, he stressed.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Rajasthan also expressed its strong dislike over Rushdie’s visit. The state president of the Jamaat, Engineer Khurshid Husain and state organiser of its Ladies Wing, Ms. Ishrat Hayat in their joint statement said Rushdie in his book desecrated and dishonoured the Messenger of Allah and his wives, to whom every Muslim pays great regard and respect and cannot tolerate such profound and grave insults. They said Rushdie not only targeted individuals but also insulted Islam, of which no law gives permission to. They said they are not against “freedom of expression,” but freedom does not mean going on insulting and passing on derogatory remarks to anyone. Engineer Husain said the presence of such personalities would hurt the sentiments of Muslims, and requested the organisers to cancel their invitation to Rushdie.
In another protest organised by Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO), the state secretary Ms. Obaida Iqbal said calling a person who had insulted the wives of the Messenger, whom the Muslims consider their mothers, is nothing but playing with the sentiments of Muslims. She said calling people who are known to write against Islam again and again to the festivals and functions shows the communal mindset of the organisers.
Under the banner of National Council of Shia Ulema and Majlis Ulema-e-Hind, hundreds of Indian Muslims gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, to lodge a protest. Muslim clerics got united and justified the protest against Rushdie’s visit to India. The clerics said Rushdie is the “hated” one for using derogatory language against the Prophet. India is a secular country and every citizen, here, has the right to voice his opinion. Therefore, every Muslim should oppose the visit of the man who used derogatory words against the Prophet.
On Jan. 21, Rushdie along with authors Rita Kothari and Tarun Tejpal, is slated to discuss the nuances of English with noted writer Ira Pande on the topic ‘Inglish, Amlish, Hinglish: The chutnification of English’.