Why Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' now available in India after 36-year ban

NEW DELHI: Salman Rushdie's controversial book "The Satanic Verses", which was banned by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1988 following the uproar from fundamentalists, is now available in "limited stock" at a Delhi bookstore.

The British-Indian novelist has faced a massive backlash for the book that is deemed blasphemous by Muslim organisations across the world.

"It has been a few days since we got the book and the response has been very good so far. The sale has been good," Bahrisons Booksellers' owner Rajni Malhotra told news agency PTI.

"@SalmanRushdie's The Satanic Verses is now in stock at Bahrisons Booksellers! This groundbreaking & provocative novel has captivated readers for decades with its imaginative storytelling and bold themes. It has also been at the centre of intense global controversy since its release, sparking debates on free expression, faith, & art," the bookseller said in a post on X.

How the ban ended?

Delhi high court ended proceedings on a plea challenging the ban on the import of Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses', after noting that the authorities had failed to produce the 1988 notification on the ban and it must be "presumed that it does not exist".

In an order passed on November 5, a bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Saurabh Banerjee said that the petition, filed in 2019, was therefore infructuous, and the petitioner would be entitled to take all actions in respect of the book as available in law.

Petitioner Sandipan Khan had moved court arguing that he was unable to import the book because of a notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on October 5, 1988, banning its import into the country in accordance with the Customs Act.

The bench observed: "What emerges is that none of the respondents could produce the said notification dated Oct 5, 1988, with which the petitioner is purportedly aggrieved and, in fact, the purported author of the said notification has also shown his helplessness in producing a copy of the notification during the pendency of the writ petition since its filing way back in 2019." "In light of the aforesaid circumstances, we have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists, and therefore, we cannot examine its validity and dispose of the writ petition as infructuous," it concluded.

Who is Salman Rushdie?

Born in Mumbai in 1947 to British-American Kashmiri Muslim parents, Rushdie has had several brushes with controversies due to his political and religious beliefs.

Rushdie has been married four times: to Clarissa Luard, American novelist Marianne Wiggins, Elizabeth West and Indian-American actress Padma Lakshmi

He was educated at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai; Rugby School in Warwickshire, England and King's College, Cambridge, from where he graduated with BA in history.

Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand following an attack on stage at a literary event in western New York in August in 2022.

Later, Rushdie recounted the near-fatal stabbing that left him blind in one eye and his journey to healing in his new memoir "Knife".
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword.