Salman Rushdie has had a hefty bounty on his head since 1988. His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses which was highly controversial caused serious ripples in the Islamic world.
Many devout Muslims labeled it blasphemy because he wrote things about the prophet Mohammed that did not sit well with them.
Iran, India, Bangladesh, Sudan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Thailand, Tanzania, Indonesia, Singapore, Venezuela, and Pakistan are just a few of the nations with sizable Muslim populations where the book was outlawed.
Rushdie labeled Muhammad “one of the great geniuses of global history” in response to the protests, but he also pointed out that the Islamic faith considers Muhammad to be human and in no way flawless. The book, in his opinion, is not “an anti-religious fiction.”
On 14 February 1989, a fatwā ordering Rushdie’s execution was proclaimed on Radio Tehran by Ayatollah Khomeini, calling the book “blasphemous against Islam”.
Chapter IV of the book depicts the character of an Imam in exile who returns to incite revolt from the people of his country with no regard for their safety. On 7 March 1989, the United Kingdom and Iran broke diplomatic relations over the controversy.
Rushdie made a public appearance at London’s Wembley Stadium on August 11, 1993, during a U2 concert, despite the threat the book posed. Adam Clayton, the bassist for U2, recalls that it “was astonishingly easy to observe him around the house for a man who was supposed to be in hiding.”
He has been able to elude all those who wanted him dead over the years until now.
Source: Ghanafuo.com
