One of his works has sparked several controversies due to the criticism he pours towards different ideologies and religions, for which he had received several death threats.
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Euskaraz irakurri: Salman Rushdie, Islamic fundamentalism haserretu zuen idazlea
Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie has been attacked this Friday during a presentation in the state of New York, in the USA.
Rushdie has spent years living threatened by Iran for his novel the satanic verses (The Satanic Verses1988), considered blasphemous by the Iranian authorities and for which the then Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued in 1989 a decree to request the death of the writer.
The Iranian government eventually distanced itself from Khomeini’s fatwa, but in 2012 a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised Rushdie’s reward from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
In addition to the aforementioned work, the essayist has published novels such as children of midnight (Midnight’sChildren1981), with which he won the Booker Prize in 1981, being considered “the best novel of all the winners”.
His style, compared several times with Hispanic-American magical realism, has sparked several controversies over the ccriticism that pours towards the different political and social ideologies, as well as the religions.
His fourth novel, the satanic verses, is a work in which fiction is combined with philosophical reflection and a sense of humor. Is aroused the ire of Muslims Shiites, who considered it an insult to the Koran, Muhammad and the Islamic faith, and was banned in India, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, among others.
Since then, Rushdie has received several death threats, including a fatwa (religious decree) issued by the Ayatollah. Ruhollah Khomeini, then the Iranian supreme leader, who called for his assassination. For this reason, the British government put the writer under police protection.
During his career, Rushdie has received several lifetime achievement awards and appointments, and in January 2008, The Times ranked him 13th on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.
Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States and, in 2012, published Joseph Anton: A Memoiran account of his life following the controversy over the satanic verses.
Rushdie has been the last victim related to the controversial work; since its publication, several people have been killed or injured by it: in 1989, two moderate Muslim religious leaders were assassinated in Brussels for having opposed censorship of the book; the Italian translator of the book, Ettore Capriolo, was attacked with a knife on July 3, 1991; his Japanese counterpart was assassinated on July 12, 1991; on July 3, 1993, 37 people died in Sivas (Turkey) in an attack against the Turkish translator of the novel, Aziz Nesin; and on October 11, 1993 they attempted to assassinate the novel’s publisher in Norway, William Nygaard.
Visit to Bilbao
In 2011, the Indian-British writer visited the Biscayan capital to inaugurate the Bilbao International Festival of Letters. At the event, a reflection was made on freedom, censorship and self-censorship, things that, as the writer made clear, “are death for an artist.”
Source: Eitb
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
