No one knows how to get banned like Salman Rushdie. But 1996 may turn out to be a liberating year for the author, who, despite condemnation to death by the government of Iran for his earlier novel "The Satanic Verses," decided recently to come out of hiding.
Last fall, shortly after Rushdie's latest book, "The Moor's Last Sigh," was published in Britain, the Indian government placed a de facto ban on the novel, claiming that one of Rushdie's characters resembled a leading political figure.Customs authorities began seizing shipments of the book, in which the fictional Ramar Fielding seemed to be a thinly veiled version of Bal Thackeray, one of India's most prominent Hindu nationalist politicians.
Still, with early copies of the book in hand, Indian reviewers praised it. So the smuggling began.
Random House, in response, went to the Delhi High Court to inquire about the embargo. And now the Indian high court has announced that the novel should be made available.
By way of explanation, The Times of India reported: "The Union Home Ministry, which had received several representations asking for a ban on this novel, has decided not to prohibit the sale of the novel as it does not find anything objectionable in the book."
- Mary B.W. Tabor