'Deep concern' over Rushdie attack comments
Duncan Campbell, Vikram Dodd and Mark Tran
Tuesday June 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Britain today expressed its "deep concern" over reported comments by a Pakistani minister that Salman Rushdie's knighthood could justify suicide bombings.
The UK's high commissioner, Robert Brinkley, conveyed the message after being summoned to meet Pakistani officials in Islamabad.
"The high commissioner made clear the British government's deep concern at what the minister for religious affairs was reported to have said," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
"The British government is very clear that nothing can justify suicide bomb attacks."
Britain's message came amid continuing protests over Salman Rushdie's controversial knighthood.
The award was intended to recognise the contribution to literature by one of Britain's most high-profile - and much vilified - writers. But the government's decision to give the author of The Satanic Verses a knighthood has generated the kind of international furore that once threatened to engulf his career and put his life at risk.
The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, provoked the ire of many Muslims and led to the issuing of a fatwa in 1989 by the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.
Scotland Yard said it did not discuss security arrangements for individuals, although it is acknowledged that Rushdie had round-the-clock armed protection throughout the time of the fatwa.
The Pakistan parliament yesterday called on the government to reverse the decision or face further protests from Muslim nations.
"If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Muhammad, his act is justified," the minister for religious affairs, Ijaz ul-Haq, told Pakistan's national assembly, according to the translation from Urdu by Reuters. He urged Muslim countries to break diplomatic ties with London.
"This is an occasion for the [world's] 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," said Mr ul-Haq, the son of the former Pakistan military leader, Zia ul-Haq. "If Muslims do not unite, the situation will get worse and Salman Rushdie may get a seat in the British parliament."
His comments were reported on local news networks and provoked an angry response around the world. Effigies of the Queen and Rushdie were burned in the eastern Pakistan city of Multan as students chanted "Kill him! Kill him!"
Mr ul-Haq said his main intention had been to examine the root causes of terrorism; he denied he was encouraging suicide bombing. Pakistan's lower house of parliament also passed a resolution condemning the decision to knight the Booker prize winner. "We deplore the decision," said Pakistan foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam yesterday. Rushdie's knighthood would hamper inter-faith understanding, she said. "This we feel is insensitive and we [will] convey our sentiments to the British government."
Britain's high commissioner to Pakistan, Robert Brinkley, defended the decision to award Rushdie a knighthood and tried to defuse the situation. "It is simply untrue to suggest that this in anyway is an insult to Islam or the Prophet Muhammad, and we have enormous respect for Islam as a religion and for its intellectual and cultural achievements," he said in a statement last night.
The Muslim Council of Britain, while condemning any threats to Rushdie's life, also attacked the decision to grant him a knighthood. "Salman Rushdie earned notoriety among Muslims for the highly insulting and blasphemous manner in which he portrayed early Islamic figures much-loved and honoured by them," Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said. "The insensitive decision to grant Rushdie a knighthood can therefore only do harm to the image of our country in the eyes of hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world," he added. "Many will interpret the knighthood as a final contemptuous parting gift from Tony Blair to the Muslim world."
Labour peer Lord Ahmed said: "It's hypocrisy by Tony Blair who two weeks ago was talking about building bridges to mainstream Muslims, and then he's honouring a man who has insulted the British public and been divisive in community relations."
It is believed Mr Blair was not involved in the decision to knight Rushdie, who has expressed delight at the knighthood. His name was recommended to the Queen by a cabinet office committee.
Career of controversy: A writer greeted with veneration or violence
As he celebrates his 60th birthday today and the award of a knighthood for services to literature, Ahmed Salman Rushdie can look back on a career that has attracted both great admiration and violent controversy.
Educated at the Cathedral School in his native city Bombay, Rugby and Kings College, Cambridge, he came to international prominence through his second novel, Midnight's Children, published in 1981 to universal acclaim. It won him the Booker prize.
His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, sparked worldwide controversy after its publication. It was condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and Iran's spiritual leader issued a fatwa, forcing the author to go into hiding.
Scotland Yard reported a number of attempts to assassinate Rushdie and he was provided with an armed police guard. The Japanese publisher of the book was killed, others associated with the book suffered attacks and threats. The UK broke off diplomatic relations with Iran; they were only restored in 1998 after the Iranian government had given assurances that they would not harm Rushdie.
Since the time of the fatwa, Rushdie has not had security, either private or through the government. If someone is assessed to be at serious risk, they will be offered security by the police, either on a round-the-clock basis or through regular surveillance of their home.
Rushdie now prefers to spend most of his time in New York, where there are not seen to be as many Islamic extremists as in the UK.
Also the winner of the Booker of Bookers award, Rushdie's other works include Shame (1983), The Moor's Last Sigh (1995) and The Ground Beneath My Feet (1999).
Married three times, currently to Padma Lakshmi, he has two sons. He is based in New York after many years in London.
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