Why Rajiv Gandhi Banned Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’, Row Over The Book Explained
‘The Satanic Verses’, which was banned by the Rajiv Gandhi government 36 years ago, is now available in Indian bookstores after the Delhi High Court disposed of a petition challenging the notification purportedly issued by the custom authorities in 1988 banning the import of book
Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’ is back in Indian bookstores after facing a ban of 36 years by the Congress government led by Rajiv Gandhi. The renewed sale of the controversial book has upset certain Muslim organisations, who have appealed to the Central government to reinstate the ban.
The Delhi High Court in November closed proceedings on a petition challenging the Rajiv Gandhi government’s ban on the book’s import. The court stated that the failure of officials to present the relevant notification from October 5, 1988, led to the assumption that the notification did not exist.
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A “limited stock" of ‘Satanic Verses’ has reportedly been available in Delhi’s Bahrisons Booksellers. The book and its author, Rushdie, have faced massive backlash globally, with many Muslim organisations labelling it blasphemous.
Why Was Satanic Verses Banned In India?
The book sparked global outrage when it was published in September 1988. The Muslims around the world were enraged with the content of the book, and many labelled it “blasphemous".
Protests began taking place in different parts of the world, including India. In January 1989, Muslims in Bradford in the UK ritually burnt a copy of the book, and newsagents WHSmith stopped displaying it there.
In Mumbai, Rushdie’s hometown, 12 people were killed during intense Muslim rioting, the British embassy in Tehran was stoned, and a $3 million bounty was put on the author’s head.
Under pressure from religious groups, the Indian government, led by then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, issued a customs order banning the book’s import on October 5, 1988.
The decision was widely criticised as it was seen that the Congress government was giving into religious pressure. Rushdie himself wrote an open letter to Rajiv Gandhi denouncing the ban. The government later claimed the restriction applied only to the book’s import, not its content — a distinction that did little to appease critics.
The ban on ‘The Satanic Verses’ came amidst political turbulence in India. The Rajiv Gandhi government was grappling with a series of controversies, including the Bofors scandal and media censorship. Additionally, the government was facing backlash for overturning a Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case to appease to conservative Muslims, at the same time, steering through the Ayodhya temple movement.
How The Ban Ended?
In its order passed on November 5, a bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Saurabh Banerjee of the Delhi High Court had said that the petition filed in 2019, was 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 in 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 October 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, as quoted by The Times of India.
Why Are Muslim Organisations Want The Book To Be Banned Again?
Maulana Yasub Abbas, general secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, has criticised the renewed availability of the book, stating, “There is talk of lifting the ban after 36 years. On behalf of the Shia Personal Law Board, I appeal to the Indian government to ensure the ban remains firmly in place." “The book mocks Islamic views, insults Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and hurts sentiments. Allowing its sale poses a threat to the country’s harmony. I urge the prime minister to impose a complete ban on this book in India," he said.
Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi, National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, said in a statement, “The ban on The Satanic Verses had expired. Now, some publishers are planning to reprint the book in India. Back in 1988, Rajiv Gandhi’s government immediately banned it, but now preparations are underway to reintroduce it in India after the expiration of the ban." “This book insults Islam, Prophet Muhammad, and several Islamic figures. Its content is so offensive that it cannot be repeated. Allowing this book in the market will disturb the nation’s atmosphere. No Muslim can tolerate seeing this hateful book on any bookstore shelf," Razvi added.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who served as Minister of State for Home Affairs in 1988, told The Indian Express that the ban was a mistake. Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the court’s decision, asserting that Indians should have the freedom to read Rushdie’s work and form their own opinions.
Who Is Salman Rushdie?
Rushdie, 77, is one of the most celebrated and successful British authors of all time, with his second novel, ‘Midnight’s Children’, winning the illustrious Booker Prize in 1981. But it was his fourth novel, ‘The Satanic Verses’, published in 1988, which became his most controversial work — bringing about international turmoil.
Soon after ‘The Satanic Verses’ release, Rushdie received death threats, which forced him to go into hiding, with the British government placing him under police protection. Iran quickly severed relations with the UK in protest and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa — calling for the novelist’s assassination in 1989 — the year after ‘The Satanic Verses’ publication.
Rushdie was born in Mumbai in 1947 to British-American Kashmiri Muslim parents. He has been married four times to Clarrisa Luard, American novelist Marianne Wiggins, Elizabeth West and Indian-American actress Padma Lakshmi.
He studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai; Rugby School in Warwickshire, England and King’s College, Cambridge, from where he graduated in BA in history.
He became a British citizen, and allowed his Muslim faith to lapse. He worked briefly as an actor and then as an advertising copywriter, while writing novels.
Some of the most prolific work of Rushdie includes a novel for children, ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’ (1990), a book of essays, ‘Imaginary Homelands’ (1991), and the novels ‘East, West’ (1994), ‘The Moor’s Last Sigh’ (1995), ‘The Ground Beneath Her Feet’ (1999), and ‘Fury’ (2001).
He was involved in the stage adaptation of ‘Midnight’s Children’ which premiered in London in 2003.
In the last two decades he has published ‘Shalimar the Clown’, ‘The Enchantress of Florence’, ‘Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights’, ‘The Golden House’ and ‘Quichotte’.
Rushdie has been married four times, and has two children. He now lives in the US, and was knighted in 2007 by the Queen for his services to literature.
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