Srinagar shuts down over Rushdies knighthood

Srinagar city in Jammu and Kashmir came to a standstill on Friday following a shutdown called by a separatist group to denounce the knighthood granted by the UK to noted Indian born British author Salman Rushdie, whose novel the Satanic Verses had outraged Muslims worldwide when it was published in 1988.

Srinagar, June 22 : Srinagar city in Jammu and Kashmir came to a standstill on Friday following a shutdown called by a separatist group to denounce the knighthood granted by the UK to noted Indian born British author Salman Rushdie, whose novel the 'Satanic Verses' had outraged Muslims worldwide when it was published in 1988.

Streets wore a deserted look and shops and business establishments remained closed in the in response to the strike called by Jamiat-ul-Mujahedeen.

Britain Government was accused as anti-Muslim.

Ghulam Nabi, a demonstrator, said: "Earlier also Salman Rushdie's act had disturbed the entire Muslim community. Now this award has been given to Rushdie by the British Government not because of his great work but because of their anti-Muslim approach".

However, some others said the shutdown was senseless. Wajahat said: "Why do Muslims feel so insecure? If Rushdie has been awarded with knighthood then they should ignore this. It's not like we should wage a war against England. Muslims are portrayed to be illiterate and emotional. Rushdie is an atheist and his beliefs do not harm Islam in any way".

Several religious, separatist and militant organisations in Jammu and Kashmir have condemned the knighthood, which Queen Elizabeth bestowed on noted writer last week for services to literature.

The 'Satanic Verses' prompted protests, some violent, by Muslims in many countries after its publication. It also earned him a fatwa from the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran's supreme religious leader, on February 14, 1989.

In early 2005, Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reaffirmed his predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa in a message to Muslim pilgrims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Muslims say the novel is blasphemous as it ridicules Prophet Mohammad, the Holy Koran and events in the early Muslim history.

Elsewhere, high-ranking officials of the British Foreign Ministry have said the knighthood was given in recognition of the author's contribution to literature and was not intended to insult Islam or Prophet Mohammad.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents have also condemned the knighthood.

Rushdie has been honoured with several prizes including the Booker Prize for 'Midnight's Children' in 1981 and the Booker of Booker, a special award honouring the best novel in the 25-year history of the prize, in 1993.

ANI