Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 141
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 141 declaring that it is not intended as an attack on Islam. The very fact that Rushdie had agreed to add this statement proves that, intended or not, there is material that attacks Islam. Another part of the article gives rise to some probing questions. The part of the statement relates to the six Muslim scholars that Rushdie met on Christmas Eve to make his disavowal : ‘They agreed that over the past 15 years I have in fact shown myself to be an ally of Muslims, whether in Kashmir, or the rest of India, or Palestine or in Britain, where I have frequently written and broadcast against all forms of discrimination. ’ If he sees himself as someone who had championed the cause of Islam, how could he have then betrayed the trust of those very Muslims that he was speaking out for by publishing a novel that damages the name of Islam ? Firstly, his statement that hints at his sympathetic feeling to- wards Islam is ill-founded. In all his previous books that span a pe- riod of 20 years, I have quoted references which quite categorically show his utter contempt for Islam. Secondly, even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and ac- cede that he is really a Muslim and that he has at times spoken in support of Islam’s beliefs, then how can it be conceivable that he could write a book so damaging to the name of Islam that would create the biggest scandal and offence in literary history. It certainly makes one wonder and sit up and take notice. All the evidence surely points to a conspiracy where bigger ‘guns’ than Kashmir, India and Pakistan put together backed Rushdie and em- ployed his literary style of fictional wordplay to achieve their evil goals while at the same time promising him wealth and fame he could not have dreamed of. And Rushdie all but names his co-conspirators in another part of his statement where he seems to have at heart the interests of a minority rather than the interests of the majority of Muslims world- wide when he defends his decision not to withdraw the book :