After 36 years, Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses has reappeared on bookshelves in India, reigniting debates over its controversial legacy. The novel, banned in 1988 under the Rajiv Gandhi government due to allegations of blasphemy, became available once again following a legal decision by the Delhi High Court. This development has prompted renewed calls from Islamic clerics to reinstate the ban, citing concerns over religious harmony and respect for Muslim sentiments.
The Satanic Verses was banned in India shortly after its publication, making the country one of the first to outlaw the book. The decision, taken amid global outrage from Muslim communities, marked a significant moment in the intersection of literature, religion, and politics. The novel’s alleged blasphemous content led to widespread protests and a fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, placing the author at the center of a global controversy.
Decades later, the book’s reappearance in India has rekindled tensions. The ban’s lifting followed the Delhi High Court’s November decision to close proceedings on a petition challenging the 1988 prohibition. The court observed that the government failed to produce the original notification enforcing the ban, leading to the presumption that it no longer exists.
Islamic leaders have responded swiftly to the book’s availability. Maulana Yasood Abbas, General Secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB), has emphasized the need to respect Muslim sentiments. He criticized the lack of dialogue with Muslim groups before the decision and called on the government to reinstate the ban.
“There should have been dialogue because there is a Muslim perspective,” he stated, warning of the potential repercussions on social harmony.
Echoing these sentiments, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, president of the All India Muslim Jamaat, cautioned that the book’s circulation could deepen divisions in the country. He urged the government to act decisively, referencing the original ban as a precedent for maintaining peace.
The novel’s return raises complex questions about freedom of expression, religious sensitivities, and the state’s role in regulating art and literature. Supporters of the book argue that its availability is a triumph for free speech and intellectual discourse. Critics, however, fear its controversial content could exacerbate existing tensions in a diverse and pluralistic society like India.
The reintroduction of The Satanic Verses highlights the delicate balance between protecting free expression and maintaining communal harmony. While the Delhi High Court’s decision reflects a legal stance prioritizing procedural accountability, the reactions from religious leaders underscore the enduring sensitivities surrounding the novel.
About Book
k#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “[A] torrent of endlessly inventive prose, by turns comic and enraged, embracing life in all its contradictions. In this spectacular novel, verbal pyrotechnics barely outshine its psychological truths.”—Newsday
Winner of the Whitbread Prize
One of the most controversial and acclaimed novels ever written, The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie’s best-known and most galvanizing book. Set in a modern world filled with both mayhem and miracles, the story begins with a bang: the terrorist bombing of a London-bound jet in midflight. Two Indian actors of opposing sensibilities fall to earth, transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil. This is just the initial act in a magnificent odyssey that seamlessly merges the actual with the imagined. A book whose importance is eclipsed only by its quality, The Satanic Verses is a key work of our times.
Praise for The Satanic Verses
“Rushdie is a storyteller of prodigious powers, able to conjure up whole geographies, causalities, climates, creatures, customs, out of thin air.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Exhilarating, populous, loquacious, sometimes hilarious, extraordinary . . . a roller-coaster ride over a vast landscape of the imagination.”—The Guardian (London)
“A novel of metamorphoses, hauntings, memories, hallucinations, revelations, advertising jingles, and jokes. Rushdie has the power of description, and we succumb.”—The Times (London)