Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 156
156 Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi The way to deal with Rushdie, and this applies to both the Western media and the fundamentalist Muslims, is simply now to forget him. If there is anything that would shock and hurt Rushdie more than what the mullahs have done, it would be the media turning against him and his affair becoming ‘domesticated’. He has already expressed his hurt at the ‘ugly attitude of the tabloid papers’ which pains him most. They routinely trivialise his situation and sneer at him. Can Salman Rushdie, the self-appointed voice of the freedom of speech, deny the tabloid press their right of freedom to express whatever views they wish to? Rushdie’s grave concern at being hurt by the tabloid press, often regarded as the ‘gutter’ press, clearly shows him to belong to the same fraternity. In reality one is hurt the most when the members of one’s own close family turn against one. And this certainly is the case with Rushdie and his fam- ily of the tabloid press. Another aspect of the affair that hurts Rushdie is that of being regarded as ‘normal’. This goes against his proven chronicle of self- glorification and fame at any cost. To quote the central character from his latest novel : ‘How quickly the human mind normalises the abnormal. ’ (The Moor’s Last Sigh). And this can certainly be true of what has happened around Rushdie. He says himself: ‘My situation, which would a very short time ago have been considered unthinkable, has become thinkable. Everybody has domesticated it, so now it’s usual to make silly jokes about it. ’ (Waterstone’s Magazine, 1995). Even if the fatwa were lifted, Rushdie’s life would be far from normal. Things have changed for ever for him and this has been hard for him to grasp. He realises himself that, ‘even if they (mullahs) pledged not to send a hit squad after me, someone could take a pot shot at any time. ’ (The Times Magazine, 26 August 1995). There are not too many alternatives left for Rushdie. He has been the author of his own destiny and there are now very few people