Over a literary career spanning five decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been no stranger to death threats arising due to the nature of his work.
The novelist is one of the most celebrated and successful British authors of all time, with his second novel, Midnight’s Children, winning the illustrious Booker Prize in 1981.
But it was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, which became his most controversial work – bringing about international turmoil unprecedented in its scale.
In the Islamic world, many Muslims reacted with fury to the book’s publication, arguing that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad was a grave insult to their faith.
Death threats were made against Rushdie, 75, who was forced to go into hiding, and the British government placed him under police protection.
Iran quickly broke off relations with the UK in protest and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa – or decree – calling for the novelist’s assassination in 1989 – the year after the book’s publication.
But in the West, authors and intellectuals denounced the threat to freedom of expression posed by the violent reaction to the book.
Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay which is now known as Mumbai – two months before Indian independence from Britain.
Aged 14, he was sent to England and school in the town of Rugby, later gaining an honours degree in history at the prestigious Kings College in Cambridge.
He became a British citizen and allowed his Muslim faith to lapse. He worked briefly as an actor and then as an advertising copywriter while writing novels.
His first published book, Grimus, did not achieve huge success, but some critics saw him as an author with significant potential.
Rushdie took five years to write his second book, Midnight’s Children, which won the 1981 Booker Prize. It was widely acclaimed and sold half a million copies.
Source: Ghanafuo.com
