Opinion Reading Rushdie in UP
His book is the last thing on the mind of the Muslim voter
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With assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh round the corner,the Muslim vote is crucial. The promise of sub-quotas within quotas for backward Muslims and other sops are bland,predictable minority appeasement. So why not inject some drama into it? Why not capitalise on a recent press statement (not a fatwa) by the leading Islamic seminary,Darul-Uloom Deoband,demanding the government not to issue a visa to writer Salman Rushdie,who is scheduled to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival later this month? The time is perfect,some politicians think,to cash in on Muslim fury that erupts whenever an artist,cartoonist or a writer,exercises his or her freedom of expression,and in the process,denigrates Islam. Even if that means raking up an issue that dates to 1988,when Rushdies The Satanic Verses kicked up a storm with its allegedly blasphemous content.
We have many political parties demanding that Rushdie be kept out of the country (never mind the fact that he doesnt need a visa,thanks to his Person of Indian Origin card,which allows him to travel in and out of the country,and the fact that he has visited India earlier,including for the Jaipur festival in 2007). The Samajwadi Party has criticised the government for giving travel documents to Rushdie,while it had not for M.F. Husain; the BJP and the RLD have said the government should not allow him to come to India; the newly inducted Congress Working Committee member Rasheed Masood said the festival itself should be cancelled.
But does the Muslim voter in UP really care about Rushdie? For many of those born in the 1980s,which includes me,who were still learning how to read and write when The Satanic Verses came out,it doesnt really matter whether Rushdie comes to Jaipur or not. We were too young when his book caused a furore across the Muslim world. Perhaps,for us,the Gujarat riots of 2002 have a greater resonance.
Blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet,which were first published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005,are reprinted almost every year,causing a small group of Muslims to take up violence repeatedly. Most recently,French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published the cartoons. Their offices were burned in an arson attack. In the midst of such fresh fodder to foment anger,I wonder why our politicians are referring to an ancient tome. They didnt cry out when Ayaan Hirsi Ali,a vociferous critic of Islam,whose vitriolic script for the Dutch film,Submission,even upset me,came to Jaipur in 2010. Nor did Deoband raise any demand to prevent her from touring India. Not that they should have raised such a demand. The point is,Muslims have moved on. From Rushdies book. And more importantly,from the assumption that we would take to the streets every time someone who is known to be a critic of Islam comes to India. As a Muslim,I was offended by Alis work,but I didnt mind her being in Jaipur,and the idea of taking to the streets to protest never crossed my mind. Frankly,Id rather not give her any importance.
But who cares about me,the middle-class Indian who hardly votes? The target voter is the poor and the illiterate who line up at the polling booth to cast his or her ballot.
I asked my driver,Muhammad Naushad,who has studied till Class VIII,Do you know who is Salman Rushdie? No, he said. Well,he wrote a book against our Prophet. Would you let him come to India? No,hes denigrated our Prophet, he replied. What if hes coming here not to publicise that book of his,but for something else? I continued. Apne personal kaam ke liye to aa hi sakte hain wo (He can always come here for his personal work), he said.
Two Muslims my driver and I from two very different backgrounds. Both live in Ghaziabad,UP. And may vote in the upcoming elections. While casting our ballots,the last thing on our mind will be Rushdie.
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