INDIA: BRITISH AUTHOR SALMAN RUSHDIE SAYS HE HOPES TO BURY HIS DIFFERENCES WITH BOTH INDIA & INDIAN MOSLEMS & START A NEW RELATIONSHIP

Record ID: 1377046

  • Title: INDIA: BRITISH AUTHOR SALMAN RUSHDIE SAYS HE HOPES TO BURY HIS DIFFERENCES WITH BOTH INDIA & INDIAN MOSLEMS & START A NEW RELATIONSHIP
  • Date: 14th April 2000
  • Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (APRIL 14, 2000) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH POTOGRAPHY*** WIDE/SV MEDIA/ (SOUNDBITE) (English) SALMAN RUSHDIE SAYING "How delighted I am to be back in India after a gap of twelve years and more and to be here with my son Zafar to have a chance of showing him his other country which he has not been to since he was very small and these parts he has never been at all. We arrived now a week ago we managed to do so without any of you finding out which I think is a considerable achievement and as a result we have been able to move around quite freely for the last week or so. First in Delhi, then in Jaipur, then in Fatehpur Sikri and Agra, and then finally in the last couple of days in my old family cottage in Solan, and also we went to Simla, then came back to Delhi today to finally meet you all. You can imagine that after such a long gap that for me it's a very moving occasion to be back here." (2 SHOTS) C/A REPORTERS TAKING NOTES SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUSHDIE SAYING "I must say that I am appreciative that the protests were carried out in such a serious and civilised way and I hope that this all can be put behind us. I don't want to be drawn into what I consider to be a very old conversation about which everything has been said a thousand times. I hope we can just turn the page and begin a new page in this relationship which certainly would be my desire. I am coming here as a writer amongst writers for a literary event and as an Indian to be amongst Indians to regain that contact and that's the whole story as far as I am concerned." C/A CAMERAMEN AND REPORTERS SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUSHDIE SAYING "I would just say that if they don't like what I write I am sorry. I would wish everybody to like what I write. But I do think in many ways what they have been told I wrote is not accurate. I have seen reports which rehash many old views about what was in the Satanic Verses which is certainly not there. The idea that the Satanic verses says that the Quoran was written by the Devil is not correct. It's false. There is no such idea in the novel. So in many ways people were exercised by what I never said or wished to say. All I would say now is that I come from Moslem family, I come from an Indian Moslem family. I have no quarrel with Indian Moslems and I hope they would not have any quarrel with me. I think it's been a very long time and let's all get over it." WIDE RUSHDIE BEING HONOURED AT THE COMMONWEALTH WRITERS PRIZE CEREMONY
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2014 18:04
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW DELHI, INDIA
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Conflict,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAEGHAFX1OUCFHW87P8JKXYX5P
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: British author Salman Rushdie said on Friday that he hoped to bury his differences with both India and the country's Indian Moslems and start a new chapter in this relationship.
    Writer Salman Rushdie said on Friday (April 14) that he was delighted to return to India, hours after angry Moslems burned his effigy in protest at his controversial visit to the country of his birth.
    "How delighted I am to be back in India after a gap of 12 years and more and to be here with my son Zafar to have a chance of showing him his other country, which he has not been to since he was very small and these parts he has never been to at all," Rushdie told a news conference jammed with reporters in a New Delhi hotel.
    Police also threw a security ring around a New Delhi hotel where Rushdie was attending the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2000 awards ceremony.His sixth novel, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet", a tale of love, death and rock 'n' roll, has been nominated for the Commonwealth Prize.
    Asked about the security, Rushdie said he was rather pleased that no-one found out about his trip for a week.
    "We arrived now a week ago, we managed to do so without any of you finding out which I think is a considerable achievement", he said.And as a result we have been able to move around quite freely for the last week or so.First in Delhi, then in Jaipur, then in Fatehpursikri and Agra and then finally in the last couple of days in my old family cottage in Solan.And also we went to Simla then came back to Delhi today to finally meet you all.
    "You can imagine that after such a long gap that for me it's a very moving occasion to be back here," he added.
    But the controversial British author faced the wrath of 500 Moslems, who emerged from Friday prayers to march through central New Delhi, shouting slogans against Rushdie, whose book, "The Satanic Verses", brought an Iranian death edict for blaspheming Islam.
    The book that attracted the edict was banned by India, home to an estimated 120 million Moslems, and authorities had discouraged Rushdie from visiting the country.He was born in Bombay, a key setting of his book, "Midnight's Children".
    "I would just say that if they don't like what I write I am sorry I would wish everybody to like what I write.But I do think in many ways what they have been told is I wrote is not accurate.I have seen reports which rehash many old views about what was in the Satanic Verses which is certainly not there."
    In February last year the Indian government granted Rushdie a visa.The 52-yea-old author is in India on a private trip with his son.He said he would be unable to visit Bombay on his current trip but hoped to do so in future.
    In 1989, Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a death edict against Rushdie for alleged blasphemy against Islam in his most celebrated book.
    Khomeini died shortly afterwards, but Rushdie went into hiding for almost 10 years.
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