India Legal News: Last Friday Member of Parliament and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi and many others across India demanded arrest of the people who read UK-based author Salman Rushdie`s (banned in India )book The Satanic Verses at the Jaipur Literature Festival, 2012. The sitting MP said, "Reading from a banned book is a deliberate provocation and proof that the festival is a forum for Islam-bashing." Asaduddin, the MP from Hyderabad demanded that the police should arrest writers Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi under sections 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code.
What Is The Ban About?
In October 1988, the then Indian government banned The Satanic Verses where parts of content are typically a fictionalized account of a prophet or a godman loosely inspired by Mohammad. Shockingly, the book is banned under the Indian Customs Act, an official decision taken by the Rajiv Gandhi government. Mr. Rushdie then spoke publicly about the ban in India, he said, ”Many people around the world will find it strange that it is the finance ministry that gets to decide what Indian readers may or may not read.”
Book
banned in Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, Malaysia, Liberia, Papua New Guinea , Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
Lift The 23 Year Old Ban Plea
Editor Nilanjana Roy has petitioned to lift this close to quarter century ban from India to the PM. In her petition she has cited the ‘right of all artists and writers to freedom of expression’ as the reason to lift the ban. Fellow writers and thinkers of the society believe that there lies a ‘democratic need’ to examine and re-review situations and moments which led to the ban of the book in 1988, especially in times where reading anything is possible via internet. Furthermore, the publishing industry and related laws have gone through massive changes in the last two and a half decades. The fatwa was being later revoked by the Iranian Authorities on September 24, 1998.
Her statement said, ‘The Satanic Verses' has not incited violence anywhere; others have used the novel's existence to incite violence to suit their political ends. Within India, in the 23 years since the ban, we have witnessed an erosion of respect for freedom of expression, as artists like MF Husain, Chandramuhun Srimantula, Jatin Das, and Balbir Krishan have been intimidated, and works of writers like Rohinton Mistry and AK Ramanujan have been withdrawn because of threats by groups claiming to be offended.’
Was the Law Broken?
Legal experts and others so far have reserved their comments about whether the writers who read out phrases of a
banned book did defy the law of the land. According to trusted sources, merely reciting phrases of a banned book may not go purely against the law, but if the mentioned sentences are found to offend community (religious or otherwise) sentiments, then it is definitely offensive. After Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khameinei died in 1989, the ‘fatwa’, issued by him can only be revoked by the person who issued it, religious scholars in Iran then said. So, going by this logic, the ban will never be lifted. Four writers read out phrases from a ‘printout’ and no ‘picture’ or ‘banned book’ was used, fearing arrests, the writers have been asked to leave the venue. Rushdie was supposed to connect via video conferencing today, which was also, reportedly denied, till the time, this article was written.
Peace and Riots
When a decade ago the book was published, widespread protests by Muslims across the globe were reported. The fatwa subsequently led Mr Rushdie to literally being forced to spend ten years in hiding under a 24-hour vigilance of the UK police.
Pic- guardian dot UK
First, they put a ban on a book, that is absolutely unacceptable, we are not trying to draw heroes out of 'banned' authors, sure! we realize that they hurt sentiments, but banning something is definitely not a constructive solution. Second, they charge case on the people who read para's out of the critical essays (read: critical essays, not the book) this isn't democracy!! i am not saying what was written was good, but whatever that is happening now, in the present is not better as well!! so, if today I read a chapter out of the book, will the so called lampshades of religion come and kill me? we as the largest Democracy should shun such hypocrisy and hooliganism.
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