Source: The Guardian

Thu 26 Dec 2024 09.01 EST

First published on Thu 26 Dec 2024 08.33 EST

Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel The Satanic Verses - which led to a fatwa threatening his life, forcing him into hiding for a decade - has finally returned to bookshops in India, the land of his birth. The novel, inspired by the life of the prophet Muhammad, became the focus of a fierce global debate about freedom of speech when Iran's then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, placed a bounty on Rushdie's head due to its supposed blasphemy.

The book was banned in India by Rajiv Gandhi's government in 1988 after riots erupted over its contents. Two years ago, many years after Iran distanced itself from the fatwa and Rushdie had come out of hiding, the author was critically injured and lost an eye when he was stabbed at an event in upstate New York. Hadi Matar, 26, has been charged with second degree attempted murder. A separate federal indictment charges him with terrorism.

The reappearance of The Satanic Verses in Indian bookshops has nothing to do with freedom of speech, however, but missing paperwork. The original government order banning the book's import could not be found in India's labyrinthine bureaucracy, leading to its overturning. Last month, Delhi's high court ruled: "We have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists."

Bahrisons Booksellers, a long-established family-run book retailer in New Delhi's Khan Market, announced the book's availability in a post on the social media platform X. "The Satanic Verses is now in stock," the post read. A store manager, who declined to be named, said sales "have been very good", despite a price tag of 1,999 rupees (about £19), hefty by Indian standards. "We're selling out," he said on Thursday.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/dec/26/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses-india-bookshops