In India, “The Satanic Verses” Returns to the Market as Government Loses Track of Original Ban
In India, the novel The Satanic Verses by British-Indian author Salman Rushdie is once again available after Indian authorities failed to locate the original document banning the book in the country. The Indian government had prohibited the import of the controversial novel 36 years ago when it was first published. The news was reported by The Guardian.
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Rushdie’s novel caused a global uproar upon its release in 1988. The story, blending elements of magical realism, was inspired by the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Although it did not name him directly and portrayed only fictional characters and settings, Islamic leaders condemned the work as blasphemous. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa five months after the book’s publication, sentencing Rushdie to death.
Following the publication of The Satanic Verses, the Indian government banned its import, citing fears of backlash from Muslim parliamentarians. Rushdie described the decision as “deeply distressing.”
Now, questions have arisen about whether the customs notification banning the book, reportedly issued by the Ministry of Finance, was ever officially released. The issue came to light in 2019 when Indian citizen Sandipan Khan filed a lawsuit. Khan claimed he had attempted to buy the novel at a bookstore but was told it was banned. However, when he tried to find the ban notification, it was absent from any government website.
Khan took the matter to the Delhi High Court, challenging the import ban as unconstitutional. The case dragged on for years as the government repeatedly sought extensions to locate the original notification, but without success. On November 5, the government admitted in court that the ban notification “could not be traced and therefore could not be submitted.” The court concluded that it had “no choice but to presume that such a notification does not exist.”
Khan’s lawyer stated that this effectively nullified the ban on the novel’s import. According to him, the ban was “lifted as of November 5, because no notification exists to support it.”
Rushdie, born in India, has consistently maintained that his novel contains nothing offensive or blasphemous toward Islam. He describes the work as a fictional exploration of religion, migration, and identity.
In an open letter to India’s then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Rushdie criticized the government for capitulating to “extremists, even fundamentalists,” who had not read the book. In the letter, published in The New York Times in 1988, Rushdie argued that the ban made Indian democracy a laughingstock.
Following the release of The Satanic Verses, Rushdie lived in hiding for many years and has faced death threats throughout his career. In 2022, he was the target of an assassination attempt when he was stabbed multiple times during a public event in New York. The attack left him blind in one eye.
