An office mishap brings a happy ending to the banning of Salman Rushdie’s controversial book in India
It could have been a legal battle for freedom of speech in India, but in the end it was a legal error that forced the high court in New Delhi to overturn a law that banned the extradition of Salman Rushdie, 36. Satan’s verses.
It happened because no one was able to get the first order of culture.
Even its name is as bureaucratic and generic as it gets: Indian customs notification no. 405/12/88-CUS-III.
But the impact of the order, issued by the Ministry of Finance of India, was severe, stopping all purchases of the book and starting a series of reactions.
India, where Rushdie was born, became the first country to ban the book, just nine days after its publication in September 1988. Then in February 1989, Iran’s then Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a religious order which was called a fatwa that forced the author to go into hiding.
The magical realist novel, inspired by the life of the Prophet Muhammad, was deemed blasphemous by Muslim leaders, and sparked protests and book burnings.
Rushdie, now 77, gradually came out of hiding and began a normal life, but the writer was the victim of an assassination attempt at a speaking event in New York in 2022, where he was stabbed several times and left blind in one eye.
‘Why should I be denied access to this book?’
The man who filed a court challenge to India’s book ban, Sandipan Khan, is unhappy with his victory and is at pains to explain why he filed the case in the first place.
“You can blame it on my conscience, you can blame it on my emotions at the time,” Khan, 50, told CBC News in an interview in Kolkata.
Or, he said, it was simple curiosity.
In August 2022, writer Salman Rushdie was brutally stabbed while speaking, and although he survived, he lost one eye and the use of one hand – but his wit, humor and irreverence were preserved. In an extended interview, CBC’s Nahlah Ayed spoke to Rushdie about the attack, using words as a weapon and freedom of speech.
“It is also my important right,” said Khan, who described himself as a person who likes to read. “Why should I be denied access to this book?”
The judges heard the case in the Delhi High Court he wrote in a November 5 decision that since no one can present the original order to examine it, “we have no alternative but to assume that there is no such notice and, therefore, we cannot examine its validity.”
It’s not really a victory for free speech, says Khan’s lawyer.
“The court went on to rule on technicalities,” said Uddyam Mukherjee. “We will not classify it as a win or a loss.”
Mukherjee said that he would like to see the court go into the question of whether the custos order is constitutionally legal, but since there is no decision that sets a precedent, he said that he will deal with possible problems.
“Maybe in the future, these kinds of notifications will be passed more carefully. Maybe,” he said in an interview.
Book is not easy to find in stores
Rushdie has not commented on the court’s decision, but his publishing company, Penguin Random House India, issued a statement to the Associated Press calling the decision a “significant new development” and saying it was “considering next steps.”
Several bookstores in Mumbai said Satan’s verses it was not available and they have not received interest so far from people who want to buy this book.
When the tax order was first issued, Rushdie wrote in an open letter to then-Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi that the move was “deeply disturbing,” adding that he hated “his book being used as a political football.”
Rushdie also noted the unusual method used by the Indian government to close the book.
“Many people in the world will find it strange that the Ministry of Finance decides what Indian students can or cannot study,” he said.
The author went on to point out that the ministry clarified that the ban “did not affect the literary and artistic merit of Rushdie’s work,” and added sarcastically: “Thank you for the good review.”
As for Khan, he has not yet been able to review the book as he has not read it.
He emailed Rushdie’s publishing company asking when the novel would be available for purchase in India but had yet to receive a response.
Before the ruling, Khan could not download the book online, as that would have violated the embargo, but now that the matter has been decided, he still has a copy.
He hasn’t gotten past the first few pages. He said he is very busy.
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