Salman Rushdie [split discussion]

Exactly!

MUMBAI: Condemning the NDA government at the Centre and DF government in Maharashtra for allowing the British writer of Indian origin, Salman Rushdie , to enter the country, Muslim organisations in city threatened to “take law in their hands if both the governments failed to send him out of the country.”

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government extended security at the Taj Mahal Hotel in South Mumbai where Rushdie is camping with his companion, Padma Lakshmi . They are scheduled to leave the city Monday night.

The Muslim organisations staged a dharna at Azad maidan to register their protest on the stay of Rushdie in the city and the country. They also announced a reward of Rs one lakh to `blacken’ the face of Rushdie , who arrived in Mumbai after a Christmas holiday in north India.

The All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulema, the Raza Academy, the Anjuman Barkaate Raza, the Tanzeem Aimmae Masjid and other Muslim organisations said the state home minister had assured them two days ago that Rushdie would be sent out of the state.

“We don’t want to create tension in the city and the government should ask the writer to leave immediately,” a Muslim cleric told reporters, adding the writer was reportedly still in the city hotel.

“The writer is a ‘white collared terrorist’ and the government should respect our feelings by sending him out of the country”, he added.

Rushdie, against whom Muslim clerics had issued a `fatwa’ for his alleged blasphemous writings about Islam in his book, Satanic Verses , had been staying in a high-security area in the United Kingdom so far.

Comment:- See it can work both ways, just depends on who shouts louder, the weakness that democracy has is that the Majority tends to have more power.

The guy attacks islam and prophet (saw)

Offends about 2 billion people.

And the excuse used is freedom of speech?

If you can say what you like, without thinking and offending people then you are going to cause chaos, problems and violence this is the result of so called freedom of speech Even in this example and many others.

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*Originally posted by ak47: *
If you can say what you like, without thinking and offending people then you are going to cause chaos, problems and violence this is the result of so called freedom of speech Even in this example and many others.
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AK 47, defending Rushdie was not my point. My point is that the people clamouring for Rushdie to get out of the country, well that is the freedom of speech and expression, it can work both ways you see.....

BTW, to clear up m y ignorance, what was the offending content of Rushdie's work, thanks to the BAN on the book I never got a chance to read it......

Does any one know where I can see the offending parts, or has anyone here read the same?

I know a lot of people have said that Rushdie insulted everything Islam but do you know what was actually said?

Toddy i did'nt say you defending Rushdie, i was saying this is the problem when you allow people to say whatever they want.

This guy ends up offending billions of people.

I have read the offensive parts of the book and i am not going to repeat what was written except to say other prophets where called swear words, muhammad(saw) wives where insulted and the sahabah where also called by swear words. I can understand why people want to kill him, and then claiming the book and character names is totally fiction afterwards as a defense is just ridiculous.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Toddytapper: *

BTW, to clear up m y ignorance, what was the offending content of Rushdie's work, thanks to the BAN on the book I never got a chance to read it......

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Toddy, the book was always freely available out of India. I read about a third of it and frankly I didn't read anything offensive except that it was offesively boring. It had bollywood caricatures. Definitely the worst of Rushdie.

I totally agree with you about democracy being mobocracy. Even if Rushdie had offended feelings he had apologised and Iran had lifted the 100 fatwas against him. But some organisations will do anything to get into the news, whether it's bal thakeray league or muslim league.