'The Satanic Verses' By Salman Rushdie Returns To Bookshelves: The Controversial Rajiv Gandhi Link Explained
Date
12/26/2024 12:00:45 AM
(MENAFN- Live Mint) Salman Rushdie's controversial novel, 'The Satanic Verses', is back on the shelves in book stores across India, 36 years after the 'ban' was imposed when Muslims found it 'blasphemous'.
The Delhi High Court had in November lifted the so called ban on the novel observing that the government was unable to produce the original notification that imposed it in 1988.
Also Read | Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' back on sale in India after 36-year ban
The re-appearance of novel on the book shelves has triggered yet another row – this time involving the Nehru-Gandhi family. The book was banned in 1988 by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandh after an uproar as parts of the novel were considered blasphemous by Muslims.
Many considered the decision by Rajiv Gandhi a knee-jerk and regressive step after the controversial Shah Bano case – perceived as one of the milestones in Muslim women's fight for rights in India and the battle against personal laws.
“It is very apt that the book appearing in Indian bookshops for the first time should coincide with the birth centenary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, " Advisor to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry Kanchan Gupta was quoted as saying in a report by News18.
“Atal Ji used to say: The answer to a book you don't like is a book you would endorse; the answer does not lie in either burning a book or proscribing it'," Gupta, who also worked with Vajpayee, said.
The Congress said it was wrong to blame Rajiv Gandhi.“There are sensitivities which are what we need to be mindful of. But we never banned the book, only imports were stopped," the party said in a statement cited by News 18.
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