‘Book ban was law and order decision’

A FORMER minister last week defended the Indian government’s decision to ban author Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses, saying it was done to maintain law and order.

K Natwar Singh (right) was a minister of state for external affairs in the Rajiv Gandhi’s government when the book was banned in 1988. The 91-year-old former minister rejected as “rubbish” an allegation by critics that the government’s decision was driven by “appeasement towards Muslims”.

The diplomat turned politician praised Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children as one of the great novels of the 20th century, but reiterated the decision to ban The Satanic Verses was taken for law and order reasons.

“I don’t think it (the decision to ban the book) was wrong,” Singh said. “Rajiv Gandhi asked me what should be done. I said, ‘All my life I have been totally opposed to banning books, but when it comes to law and order, even a book of a great writer like Rushdie should be banned’.

“I completely think it was justified because it was going to cause serious law and order problems as feelings were running very high, particularly among our Muslim population.

“I said, ‘the entire Muslim world is going to flare up. We have a large number of Muslims and apart from that, what the book contains at this time, is not acceptable.’”

Singh said he was “very distressed” over the attack on the author last Friday (12).

“Here is a man, 75 years old, not harming anybody and contributing to literature and then some rascal comes and nearly kills him and that too when he was making a speech in New York,” Singh said.

“There is no doubt that he is one of the great writers of the 20th century. So I am very distressed. I did not know him personally, but I admired his Midnight’s Children. I read it several times, it is high-class literature.”