Mumbai: Muslim academicians, social workers, lawyers, theatre personalities and others have issued a statement saying they do not support calls by religious and community organisations to ban ‘The Satanic Verses’ by Salman Rushdie.
About The Book
The book, based on the life of Prophet Muhammad, was banned in 1988 because Muslims considered it blasphemous. The book is now back on the shelves after the document banning the book was declared untraceable. There are demands for a fresh ban on the book. The signatories to the statement from the Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) included Shama Zaidi, documentary filmmaker; Feroz Abbas Khan, theatre and film director; Feroze Mithiborwala, co-convener, Bharat Bachao Andolan; and Teesta Setalvad, Citizens for Justice and Peace.
Statement Of Indian Muslims For Secular Democracy
The IMSD said that it draws the line between ‘free speech’, which it supports, and ‘hate speech’. While the Constitution of India guarantees the right to freedom of speech, the law of the land also provides for penal action against hate speech. Muslims, or anyone else for that matter, have the right to be offended by a book, cartoon, play or film and they have the right to protest in peaceful manner, the statement said. “They are also within their right to invoke existing provisions of criminal law to seek redressal of their grievance. But they do not have the right to silence the offender. A fatwa, firman or call to kill Salman Rushdie, as also the demand for a ban on Satanic Verses amounts to just that: Silencing the offender,” the statement added.
