That’s ‘Sir Salman Rushdie’ to You
Eighteen years after the publication of Salman Rushdie's explosively controversial novel "The Satanic Verses" -- which led to widespread criticism by Muslims and a death threat ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini -- the Indian-born writer has been singled out for a much more desirable form of official recognition: Rushdie has been knighted by the queen of England.
Eighteen years after the publication of Salman Rushdie’s explosively controversial novel “The Satanic Verses” — which led to widespread criticism by Muslims and a death threat ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini — the Indian-born writer has been singled out for a much more desirable form of official recognition: Rushdie has been knighted by the queen of England.
Rock Solid JournalismBBC:
His re-emergence has not been without controversy.
In backing Jack Straw over his comments on Muslim women wearing veils, Sir Salman said veils “suck” as they were a symbol of the “limitation of women”.
He also weighed into the furore surrounding the Danish cartoons, which satirised the Prophet Muhammad, warning against Islamic “totalitarianism”.
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Books
In 'Knife,' his memoir on narrowly surviving a vicious attack, the acclaimed author interrogates a world where liberal principles have become old-fashioned.
Nobody fights better than writers, so it's a little sad that novelists Salman Rushdie and John le Carré have agreed to stop hating each other.
Tina Fey, in character again as Sarah Palin for last weekend's "Saturday Night Live," made light of how the Republican vice presidential candidate was "literally" embraced by "a couple of them Pakistani guys" she met at the United Nations last week. Unfortunately for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, though, the prayer leader of Islamabad's Red Mosque isn't laughing about Zardari's encounter with Palin last Thursday.
Nilofar Bakhtiar, Pakistan's federal minister for tourism, is in hot water with clerics in her home country for hugging a skydiving instructor who guided her through a tandem parachute jump for charity last month. Now, after striking such an "obscene" pose, she's had to resign from Pakistan's Cabinet.
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