Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’ again in India after 36 years, Islamic clerics demand reinstatement of ban
Days after celebrated writer Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ made a comeback in India after a 36-year-old ban, Islamic clerics have as soon as once more referred to as for the continued ban on the ebook.
Maulana Yasood Abbas, the Common Secretary of the All India Shia Private Legislation Board (AISPLB), has urged the Centre to uphold the ban on ‘The Satanic Verses’, emphasising the significance of sustaining respect for Muslim sentiments, ANI reported.
His remarks got here after the stories that the ebook was obtainable as soon as once more on the market at Delhi’s Bahrisons Booksellers.
The Muslim cleric additionally argued that the federal government ought to have engaged in a dialogue with involved Muslim teams earlier than making any selections concerning the ebook’s availability.
“There ought to have been dialogue as a result of there’s a Muslim perspective,” he added.
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, the president of the All India Muslim Jamaat, echoed comparable sentiments, elevating alarm over the “potential hurt” that the ebook’s availability might trigger to the nation’s social and non secular concord.
“I request the federal government that within the method through which the then authorities had imposed a ban on the eighties, this ban ought to proceed,” he mentioned warning that permitting the ebook to flow into might escalate tensions and divide the nation alongside non secular strains.
The Satanic Verses, which was banned in 1988 in India underneath the Rajiv Gandhi authorities attributable to its content material deemed blasphemous by Muslim organisations, is offered as soon as once more in India at Delhi’s Bahrisons Booksellers.
The Satanic Verses ban was lifted after a Delhi Courtroom order
The ebook’s return follows a major authorized improvement as in November, the Delhi Excessive Courtroom closed the proceedings on a petition difficult the Rajiv Gandhi authorities’s ban on the import of ‘The Satanic Verses’, saying since authorities have failed to supply the related notification, it needs to be “presumed that it doesn’t exist”.
The order got here after authorities authorities did not submit the notification dated October 5, 1988, which banned the import of the ebook.
(With ANI inputs)
