Rushdie and the British Establishment

Re:#13 Posted by arjun2

(((((bad BUT if you didn't oppress muslims in iraq/afghanistan/kashmir...

The "but" part provides justification...))))

And His excelency maharaaj arjun justifies oppression of muslims in iraq/afghanistan/kashmir because it makes her feel good. He enjoys the sight of muslims being killed on t.v channells while drinking bacardi gao-muttar flavour and eating gao-goaber kababs (non-veg).

Re: # 15

Indeed. Naguib Mahfouz was a brilliant writer.

re: 12

Rushdie is also a unfailingly sharp critic of the West and Western biases. Readers may find his satire of materialism, celebrity culture, hybridity in his collection of short stories EastWest. He is truly in the pantheon of Morrison, Borges, Marquez, Sembene, Almodovar, Soyinka, Wa Thi'ongo -artists who have transcended their genres, their cultures, their languages and yes, their religions. Ultimately, I'd argue that each is a humanist.

And no one has mentioned the genius of Naguib Mahfouz, a brilliant writer who is harassed by the Egyptian govt. itself.

#15 neembu

Unfortunately Najeeb Mahfouz passed away not that long ago. Brilliant writer and film director.

ts,
that's right, and will state again as I have in the past, that Mahfouz, Edward Said, the Abu-Lughods, Eqbal Ahmed were staunch defenders of Rushdie's right to have written TSV. If I'm not mistaken, Mahfouz had challenged Ayotallah Khomeini's fatwa to which some fundamentalists opined that they should have killed Mahfouz first-he would not have fathered Rushdie.

Sure, the Queen knighted Rushdie. But she's also recognized Harry Potter...which has not been received well by the Church...lets see how they react....

Moeed Pirzada Sahib: So this minor problem of viewing non-muslims as eternally burning in Hell (the converse of martyrdom/jihadism (Shahadat)) boils down to "identity crisis"? Interesting.

RE: #17
Mahfouz fortunately survived a brutal attack on his life by the usual suspects:
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Death threats against Mafouz followed, including one from the "blind sheikh," Egyptian theologian Omar Abdul-Rahman. Like Rushdie, Mahfouz was given police protection, but in 1994 Islamic extremists almost succeeded in assassinating the 82-year-old novelist by stabbing him in the neck outside his Cairo home. He survived, permanently affected by damage to nerves in his right hand. Subsequently, he lived under constant bodyguard protection."

Naguib Mahfouz link on Wikipedia

The Book “Last Temptation of Christ” is by Nikos Kazantzakis, written in early 50s, who also wrote other works that did not fare well with the clergy. Scorsese only directed the movie and shouldn’t be credited with the literary work.

I think muslims thinkers and muslim world in general should be concerned more about lifting themselves out of misery than worrying about Knighthoods. A poor moron without access to clean drinking water protesting over Rushdie affair comes across as a stupid poor moron.

God, muslims are so sensitive.

#20 well said Kulharee (clapping icon here)

#11 by thinkingstorm

Look, I am a muslim and I respect other religions. Including Hinduism and Judaism.

Yaar thanks for clarifying, but the problem is that the 0.00000001 percent of Muslims are much more vocal than the 99.99999999 percent, and this minority is much more capable of perpetrating violence and bloodshed than the majority is capable of preventing.

#22 Posted by harish_hyd on July 18, 2007 3:01:52 am

I know I may be ridiculed 4 this; my guestimation is this:

10% downright free souls. They had no inhibitions abt their freedom

30% kinda liberal but fear orthodoxy and God/Mullahs and society.

40% overtly religious and mildly extremist. These ppl justify the terrorism of the loonies.

15% Extremits but Azizists i.e cowards but pretend to be bloodhounds.

5% Ready to explode extremists.

(Now I am ready to be lashed for this).

Rushdie is a pretty annoying guy to lots of people (including me, at least
every other week or so.). But with all that's going on, why should a
meaningless rank conferred on him by an arguably has-been country cause any
kind of heartburn (I mean, 'pretty damn provocative' is a bit strong, no?)
in sensible people who presumably have better things to do with their
emotional energy?

Without debating Rushdie's literary abilities, the selection process,
whether or not one should give a flying fart about GBEs, OBEs and
other fanciful orders of the British Empire, etc. etc., just one
little comment on the freedom of speech bit.

If, to many, Islamic or sharia law seems to squelch speech that is
subversive of Islam, British law on freedom of speech also seems to be
inconsistent to some Muslims. This freedom of speech, which is based
on individual autonomy and self-governance, isn't quite as absolute as
one would believe. Critics who wish to point out this as hypocrisy,
have quoted the British government's ban on the film based on the real
life of the Saudi princess who was executed for committing adultery
(after pressure from the Saudi royal family), the temporary ban on the
Pakistani film, International Guerrillas, whose protaganist is a
dissolute drunk (supposedly Rushdie) and whose life ends when he is
struck by lightning, the cancellation by the Royal Court Theatre of
the play Perdition, to list a few. These do not provide sufficient
ethical justification for a ban on any of Rushdie's books, in my mind,
but it was a pov I read, interestingly enough, in a legal journal (and
I do not know if they were/are sufficient as legal precedents).

I am all for Freedom of Speech and unequivocally against
Off-With-His-Head Fatwas but the reality is even in liberal democratic
nations, blasphemy laws exist today. Look at this law in existence in
Massachusetts:
http://mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/272-36.htm

Where is the right balance? Is there not subjectivity intrinsically
involved with words like "wilfully"?

#22 Harish, #23 Folio
Harish, exactly my point as well. I fear that the majority will suffer immensely due to inaction. The overall picture is more complicated however. When Arjun says that the majority says "BUT"...we should not ignore the reasons that come after the "but" either.

Overall though, freedom of speech is not so free in US and UK either. Having said that however, understanding the chess game that is taking place in world politics is much better then being outraged or offended :).

Moeed is right that the Knighthood itself is a chess move, challenging the disgruntled muslim youth. The British are worried that thier identity will be taken away (having listened to one raving mullah in UK, I don't blame the White British for thinking what they think), but at an even higher level...this is an intricate dance of cause and effect.

We may not be able to change other people's minds, but we can certainly change our own. I am willing to listen to all sides :).

-thinking

http://eteraz.wordpress.com/2007/06/18/muslim-fundamentalists-suffering-from-col onized-mentality/

Muslim Fundamentalists Suffering From Colonized Mentality

If the hardliners hate Rushdie, they shouldn't really give a flying
f*ck whether he gets knighted, abducted by aliens, or anally probed.
Yet the fundos care very much about all those when it comes to
Rushdie. Why? Get a life, you freaking losers. He doesn't like you.
Not only that, but he actually left the faith you both once shared.
He dislikes you that much. Stop acting like a stalking ex-boyfriend
and leave him alone. The best revenge --- if that is what you want
--- is to ignore him, not keep having ejaculations every time you
hear about him. That just gives him more power over you. You'd know
all these things if you ever dated, but of course, since you forbid
that too, you have no idea how to play mind games with your exes. So
you just keep agitating to kill your ex

overall this is a good thing. if knighthood is not about provocating muslims but purely literary, its a good thing to have a muslim knight. if its a challange to "muslims", thats great too. this will cause a discussion..and may the best argument win. sure there will be some bombings, but they will be there anyhow methinks.

#27 Posted by thinkingstorm on July 18, 2007 11:59:04 am


we should not ignore the reasons that come after the "but" either.


BS...do you care about the root cause when a man rapes a women? Do you say "what he did was bad but he probably was too poor to get a real date"? I'm guessing not...