Pakistan says Rushdie knighthood justifies suicide bombings
Salman Rushdie, as you might be familiar is the author of Satanic Verses
He has recently been granted knighthood by the Queen of England, which sparked the controversy, in Iran and Pakistan, mostly.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1948375.ece
Britain's decision to award Salman Rushdie a knighthood set off a storm of protest in the Islamic world today, with a Pakistani government minister giving warning that it could provide justification for suicide bomb attacks.Rushdie was awarded the title in the Queen's Birthday Honours on Saturday. He has lived under police protection since the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran pronounced a fatwa (death sentence) on him over alleged blasphemies against Islam in his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.
Today, Pakistan's religious affairs minister suggested that the knighthood was so grave an offence that any Muslim anywhere in the world would be justified in taking violent action.
"If somebody has to attack by strapping bombs to his body to protect the honour of the Prophet then it is justified," Mr ul-Haq told the National Assembly.
For nine years Salman Rushdie lived as a virtual prisoner, changing addresses constantly, and protected around the clock by British security at an estimated cost of £10 million
The minister, the son of Zia ul-Haq, the military dictator who died in a plane crash in 1988, later retracted his statement in parliament, then told the AFP news agency that he meant to say that knighting Rushdie would foster extremism.
"If someone blows himself up he will consider himself justified. How can we fight terrorism when those who commit blasphemy are rewarded by the West?" he said.
He said Pakistan should sever diplomatic ties with Britain if it did not withdraw the award, adding:"We demand an apology by the British government. Their action has hurt the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims...
"If Muslims do not unite, the situation will get worse and Salman Rushdie may get a seat in the British parliament."
Iran has also condemned Rushdie's knighthood, with hardliners issuing calls for his murder today. Mehdi Kuchakzadeh, a Tehran MP, declared: “It would be a hollow dream for the Queen of England to think that with such an action she could revive one of her mercenaries to oppose Islam... Rushdie died the moment the late Imam (Ayatollah Khomeini) issued the fatwa.”
Backed by the Government, the Pakistan parliament today voted unanimously in favour of a resolution calling on Britain to withdraw the proferred knighthood because it is an insult to "the sentiments of Muslims across the world" and created religious hatred.
Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs who proposed the resolution, called Rushdie a blasphemer. "Every religion should be respected," he told the National Assembly, "I demand the British government immediately withdraw the title as it is creating religious hatred."
Tasnim Aslam, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said that Islamabad would protest to London. "We deplore the decision of the British government to knight him. This we feel is insensitive and we would convey our sentiments to the British government."
Khwaja Asif, an Opposition parliamentarian, warned however that the resolution exposed a contradiction in the Government’s policy as an ally of Britain in the international war on terrorism.
In the Pakistani city of Multan, about 100 Muslim students burnt effigies of the Queen and Rushdie and shouted: "Kill him, kill him".
Rushdie went into hiding and copies of The Satanic Verses were publicly burned on the streets of Bradford after Ayatollah Khomeini issued his fatwa, ordering Muslims to kill him.
Eighteen years ago when Scotland Yard first gave Salman Rushdie police protection senior officers accepted that the operation could take years and cost millions but there was a determination that it had to be done. Senior officers felt that he could not be allowed to become a victim of extremism and Special Branch officers began their guard on him.
The first team were all volunteers because of the risk from a suicide attack. Rushdie now spends much of his time in the United States but the Yard's protection unit will still place an armed team round him when he comes to Britain. The total cost to date has been put at up to £10 million - some of it paid by Rushdie himself.
The comparatively moderate Iranian Government of Mohammad Khatami softened the country's official stance, announcing in 1998, on re-establishing diplomatic relations with Britain, that it did not support the religious edict but was unable revoke it. The country's hardliners have however not swerved in their support for the death sentence.
Yesterday, Mohammad Ali Hosseini , an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that Rushdie was "one of the most hated figures" in the Islamic world.
"Honouring and commending an apostate and hated figure will definitely put the British officials (in a position) of confrontation with Islamic societies," Hosseini said.
"This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred (values) is not accidental. It is planned, organised, guided and supported by some Western countries."
The angry reaction in the Muslim world means that now a new threat assessment will have to be written for Rushdie, say sources at Scotland Yard. He will be given fresh advice on the precautions he takes abroad, and the unit around him in Britain may have to be beefed up.
The Satanic Verses’ treatment of the life of Muhammad was seen as blasphemous by many Muslims. Parts that caused particular offence include a suggestion that Islam was founded by the Prophet after experiencing hallucinations caused by smoking hashish.
The British High Commission in Islamabad defended the decision to honour Rushdie, one of the most prominent novelists of the late 20th century whose 13 books have won numerous awards, including the Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children in 1981.
Aidan Liddle, a spokesman from the British High Commission in Islamabad said: "Sir Salman’s honour is richly deserved and the reasons for it are self-explanatory."
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, today added his voice to the chorus of disapproval of the knighthood.
"Salman Rushdie earned notoriety amongst Muslims for the highly insulting and blasphemous manner in which he portrayed early Islamic figures," he said.
"The granting of a knighthood to him can only do harm to the image of our country in the eyes of hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world. Many will interpret the knighthood as a final contemptuous parting gift from Tony Blair to the Muslim world."
Thoughts?