Another controversy in tow? Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses has quietly made its return to India 36 years after it was banned by the Rajiv Gandhi government. A "limited stock" of the book, which ignited global outrage and was condemned by Muslim organisations for its blasphemous content, has been available for sale at Bahrisons Booksellers in New Delhi for the past few days, reported PTI.
Rajni Malhotra, the owner of Bahrisons Booksellers told PTI that the book has been selling well and the response from readers has been strong so far.
On social media, Bahrisons Booksellers announced the arrival of The Satanic Verses, describing it as a “groundbreaking & provocative novel” that has sparked global debates on free expression, faith, and art. The bookstore also highlighted the book’s role in the intense controversy surrounding Rushdie since its release.
Manasi Subramaniam, Editor-in-Chief at Penguin Random House India, also shared her excitement on social media, quoting Rushdie’s words, "Language is courage, the ability to conceive a thought, to speak it, and by doing so to make it true. At long last, The Satanic Verses is allowed to be sold in India after a 36-year ban.”
What happened previously?
The Delhi High Court had closed the proceedings on a petition challenging the 1988 ban on the novel's import. Additionally, the court noted that the government had failed to produce the relevant notification banning the book, leading to the presumption that no such notification existed.
The Satanic Verses faced severe backlash shortly after its publication in 1988, culminating in Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa (a religious ruling) calling for Rushdie’s death.
The author spent years in hiding in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). In 1991, his Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was murdered. On August 12, 2022, Rushdie was stabbed by Lebanese-American Hadi Matar during a lecture, leaving him blind in one eye, reported PTI.
