Salman Rushdie on Pakistan

[Imran Khan]

we are beggars and rushdi is dog you guys know this story?

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

Lets not be hypocritical towards Salman Rushdie.. what he maybe saying could be an exaggerated truth but what Pakistani's did to him was Way more exaggerated than one could possibly imagine. I am one of the few people in Pakistan who has Satanic Verses and I have read the entire book.. its actually pretty decent and the 'derogatory' part where the fatwa was issued on his head wasn't even that derogatory and WAY WORSE things are said in Pakistan on Live TV everyday... I think its Pakistani's in general who are mentally and intellectually mutilated when it comes to Islam and Pakistan...

You think banning, exiling, humiliating, 24-7 death threats and placing a Fatwa on someones head based on a Literature novel and than expecting him to say all goodie goodie things about Pakistan is not hypocritical? It's like the pot calling the kettle black

I would disagree a little here my friend... No matter what is being said in Pakistan etc, we as people or nation have never ever resorted to insulting another religion by making fun of their religious leaders... What Muslims do instead is discuss why certain ideas in a religion are unjust e.g we do this about the caste system in Hinduism... however we still do not insult Hindus for their beliefs... There is a decent way of saying I disagree with something and another way of making enemies... Rushdie and others like him deserve all this and worse if they dishonor our ideology even in the slightest... I remember a long time back an Australian asked me this and was complaining that we Muslims are not tolerant people... I asked the man what would he do to someone who abused and insulted his mother... the guy goes... "I ll kick such a person in the head"... So i told him that this is exactly what all Muslims want to do to people who insult the mother of believers... Maybe a billion of us Muslims would kick him gently...

Dont be upset yaar... You need to realize that our enemies have no respect or regard for our creed... Recently the Nazi Angela Merkel awarded one of these persons who drew insulting cartoons of Muhammad and then she was complaining that Multiculturalism has failed and we immigrants need to do more to integrate... Imagine that... What a nice way of asking us to integrate... by awarding someone who insults us!!!

 

[CONNAN]

why bothering to answer this stupid thread let it die dudes nothing but a flame bait and there more useful things to discuss

 

[T-Faz]

Lets not be hypocritical towards Salman Rushdie.. what he maybe saying could be an exaggerated truth but what Pakistani's did to him was Way more exaggerated than one could possibly imagine. I am one of the few people in Pakistan who has Satanic Verses and I have read the entire book.. its actually pretty decent (but not worth giving a knighthood award for)and the 'derogatory' part where the fatwa was issued on his head wasn't even that derogatory and WAY WORSE things are said in Pakistan on Live TV everyday... I think its Pakistani's in general who are mentally and intellectually mutilated when it comes to Islam and Pakistan...

You think banning, exiling, humiliating, 24-7 death threats and placing a Fatwa on someones head based on a Literature novel and than expecting him to say all goodie goodie things about Pakistan is not hypocritical? It's like the pot calling the kettle black

I thought I made it clear when I said that he is just responding in the same manner the country treated him, nothing hypocritical in it.

Neither did I state that he was hypocritical, as for the book itself, it would have been best to overlook it and continue on with our lives, by treating him the way some Muslims did, him and his book just become more popular and negated the image of Muslims in the west.

What was hypocritical of him was the fact how he started stating that he had become a born again Muslim of sorts in the early 90's just to appease extremist elemetns who were hell bent on killing him.

 

[LaBong]

What was hypocritical of him was the fact how he started stating that he had become a born again Muslim of sorts in the early 90's just to appease extremist elemetns who were hell bent on killing him.

Well if tomorrow some goons from Ram Sene vouch to plant RDX on my home, I'll goddamn claim myself an avatar of vishnu to save my skin!

He is an author not rebel or something!

 

[T-Faz]

Well if tomorrow some goons from Ram Sene vouch to plant RDX on my home, I'll goddamn claim myself an avatar of vishnu to save my skin!

He is an author not rebel or something!

Well if you were living in a western country with full protection then Ram Sena wouldn't be able to do a God damend thing to you, much like no one could do anything to Rushdie.

He even admitted himself that he was stupid in doing so.

Anyhow here is an excerpt from his interviews with David Cronenberg.

Cronenberg: I've had movies censored, and I realize that I could never second- guess a censor. I don't know how they think because they'll want to cut something out of my movie that I would never imagine they would.

Rushdie: I had the strange experience of becoming a subject of a movie-this appalling movie made in Pakistan called International Guerrillas. It's about the freedom fighters of Islam searching for me, trying to kill me. I'm the villain of the movie. There is a character called my name who is the author of The Satanic Verses who wears a series of appalling safari suits. And every time this guy arrives on camera there's a sort of satanic "dahh dahh." And the cameraman always looks to his feet. And there's a slow "pan" up-

Why did I read that you had converted to Islam?

Five years ago there was a moment when I made a stupid mistake and when I was approached by a number of British Muslims here who sort of seduced me into making some statement of support for the faith, and said that if I were to do this then in return there would be a rapid amelioration of the situation. I said very stupid things for a couple of weeks.

Uh huh.

It's one of those things that you get seduced into for good reasons, where you think, "OK, I will show these people I am not their enemy, I want to calm things down." And that sucks you towards saying things which you shouldn't say because they happen not to be what you think, you know? Yeah.

The moment I made the statement it immediately made me feel physically sick because I felt that in some way I had lost my language. Up to that point the one thing that kept me going was that I could defend everything I said and I could talk about it in my ordinary language and not have to use any kind of special guarded phrases, you know, just talk. And suddenly I found myself in this compromised position. So very rapidly I took steps to say, "Look, this was a mistake and this is not my position, and while I'm not hostile to Muslims at large, I could not really, truthfully, call myself Muslim."

The most interesting parts and ones which most sane people would agree with:

Cronenberg: You say you can you never go back to Bombay?

Rushdie: No. It's completely dreadful for me. That is the worst thing, finding it difficult to go to India is, of all the deprivations, the worst. Because, well, because I'm from there. My family is still there and my mother lives in Pakistan and I'm not allowed to go to Pakistan. I'm personally banned there.

That's the worst place for you to go, a Muslim country.

I will never go to Pakistan again, no question. But it's an indication of how trumped up this whole thing is. My mother has been living there throughout this time and there's been absolutely no trouble. You know, she hasn't had a rude phone call.

Why not? Because you believe that in the streets-

Because all of the people are not like that. She goes to the bazaar and people say, "How is your son? Isn't it dreadful what's happening?"

Oh? Now that's so interesting to hear.

But that's the reality.

The image you have of it is that she would be stoned in the streets.

I know. People say, "These crazy Muslims, we couldn't stop them, and they're bastards." One of the things that's not given a lot of attention is how much Muslim support for me there's been.

Well, that's encouraging to hear.

The thing called Islamism is not the same thing as Islam. This political thing which we call fundamentalism, everybody is scared stiff of it. It is not a religious movement, it's a political fascist movement which happens to be using a certain kind of religious language.

It's like the Christian fundamentalists in the States.

Sure, but because there is less knowledge in the West of what's happening in these countries, there's a tendency not to understand that this is a political movement, a tendency to say that it is a spontaneous outpouring of the true religious feelings of the people.

Yes, I know that people do think that.

Yes, and also to not notice the fact that the people who are most oppressed by these movements are Muslims. That's to say the people most oppressed by the Iranian regime are the people of Iran.

Ultimately it's easy to think that they also got what they deserved, that somehow this is an expression of what they really want.

But there's no such thing as a homogeneous culture which can demand not to be criticized. Iran, for example, is famous as the place in which the most pornographic jokes about the prophet are made.

Really?

Iran is famous as being a place with dirty stories, dirty religious stories. It's their culture. No culture is one thing.

If someone were doing that now in Iran, under these-
Oh, it would get wiped out.

Now they would.

But it's still in the streets and in people's houses et cetera. It's an irreverent culture. My writing has always come out of that idea of the mixture, the kind of idealized, mongrel truth. We should avoid at all costs any pedigree version of the truth.

Read the whole interview here:

David Cronenberg Interviews Salman Rushdie

 

[Burnz]

His family migrated to Pakistan in 1964, he was in England then undertaking his education. Rushdie did spent time in Pakistan and actually worked in television.

His mother I beleive lived her whole life in Pakistan after migration and he did say in the early 90's that he would never visit Pakistan again after his book was released becuase his life will be in danger if he visits.

What he is describing is an exagerrated and biter version of his story, his family lived in Bath Island, Karachi, a place where affluent people reside and there is none of what he speaks of in this particular and adjoining areas.

I think he is just degrading the country becuase he is not allowed to visit it anymore, International Guirella film and the general view of him.

So Is Salman Rushdie a Pakistani?

 

[A1Kaid]

Read this (at least first page), then you will know why Salman Rushie is a rotten pervert.

http://intellect-era.com/Salman_rushdie_and_his_satanic_verses.pdf

 

[Roybot]

How many people here have read the Satanic Verses?

 

[AvidSpice]

How many people here have read the Satanic Verses?

I tried to find this book at Delhi and Bangalore but couldn't do do. It's banned I suppose. I found a Kindle version of late. Yet to read.

 

[Roybot]

I tried to find this book at Delhi and Bangalore but couldn't do do. It's banned I suppose. I found a Kindle version of late. Yet to read.

I have got few copies, if anyone needs one let me know

 

[Jackdaws]

How many people here have read the Satanic Verses?

I've read it - found it quite boring actually.

 

[AvidSpice]

I have got few copies, if anyone needs one let me know

Are you really a Salman Rushdie fan? Or Padma Lakshmi?

 

[kingkobra]

His justification was one sided with no proof, just statements.

Come to Pakistan and then see it for yourself.

For him may be Pakistan sucks as he can't come here, but not for us or the ones living here and those who come here.

Just a few of his lies, we don't have a 100% segregated community, we have co-education too and in offices men and women work together, we have women entrepreneurs, as well as politicians and executives, we have female models as well as artists, females roaming around in tight jeans with no veils etc etc, had we sucked, women would have been in burqas the way we saw in Afghanistan or other places.

May be he mistook Pakistan for Afghanistan to be the heaven for production of drugs, heroin and other stuff. Pakistan is not the drug production heaven.

Just explaining the 2 lies he said, others can very well be refuted too, but since you are an Indian, it will be useless.

So enjoy Rushdie as he is a hypocrite.

all these justifications seem true when you visit cities...but is it same in villages???

orthodox leaders want to implement sharia which clearly states women cant be in same room with another man and many other laws that are currently followed in saudi...

all i can say is if you are not following what your religious book tells you to do then you cant call yourself an Islamic country....right?

 

[Roybot]

Are you really a Salman Rushdie fan? Or Padma Lakshmi?

Haha, yeah nah I just try and read all the controversial books around, makes me sound smart

And I found 10 copies of satanic verses for 2 bucks each at a second hand book shop. I hear its a rare commodity in India.