Indian tycoon hosts Salman Rushdie and angers Muslims
Enlarge imageMUMBAI (Reuters) - A powerful Islamic group in India is asking Muslims to boycott products of a top Indian business group if its owner does not apologise for hosting author Salman Rushdie on a brief holiday this week.
Rushdie stayed at the plush bungalow of the Godrej family while visiting India’s biggest city where he was born and spent many of his early years.
A personal friend of the Godrejs, who have a variety of businesses from home appliances and IT to food products and pesticides, Rushdie’s visit was well publicised in the Indian media.
But the guest of Godrejs has angered the All-India Ulema Council -- a national grouping of Muslim organisations -- which says the family had not cared for the sentiments of Muslims whom Rushdie had offended with his writings.
"We really hope Mr. Godrej realises the hurt he has caused us and says sorry for it," Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi, a council official, said. "Otherwise, we are asking Muslims all over to boycott his company’s products."
The Godrejs were not available for comment. Godrej Industries Ltd, a Godrej group company with interests in chemical, vegetable oil and real estate, posted a net profit of $15.94 million (8.1 million pounds) in 2006-07.
The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme religious leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious .....continued below
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edict, in 1989 that called on Muslims to kill Rushdie because of perceived blasphemy in his fourth novel, "The Satanic Verses".This forced the writer to live in hiding for nine years.
In June he was selected for a knighthood by the Queen, again angering some Muslims in Iran and Pakistan.
The presence in India of another controversial writer, exiled Bangladeshi Taslima Nasreen, has sparked riots by Muslims offended by her books.
Threats against her have forced authorities to house her in a secret security facility in New Delhi since November, and she has appealed for more freedom.
(Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; editing by Alistair Scrutton)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - A powerful Islamic group in India is asking Muslims to boycott products of a top Indian business group if its owner does not apologise for hosting author Salman Rushdie on a brief holiday this week.
Rushdie stayed at the plush bungalow of the Godrej family while visiting India’s biggest city where he was born and spent many of his early years.
A personal friend of the Godrejs, who have a variety of businesses from home appliances and IT to food products and pesticides, Rushdie’s visit was well publicised in the Indian media.
But the guest of Godrejs has angered the All-India Ulema Council -- a national grouping of Muslim organisations -- which says the family had not cared for the sentiments of Muslims whom Rushdie had offended with his writings.
"We really hope Mr. Godrej realises the hurt he has caused us and says sorry for it," Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi, a council official, said. "Otherwise, we are asking Muslims all over to boycott his company’s products."
The Godrejs were not available for comment. Godrej Industries Ltd, a Godrej group company with interests in chemical, vegetable oil and real estate, posted a net profit of $15.94 million (8.1 million pounds) in 2006-07.
The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme religious leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious edict, in 1989 that called on Muslims to kill Rushdie because of perceived blasphemy in his fourth novel, "The Satanic Verses".
This forced the writer to live in hiding for nine years.
In June he was selected for a knighthood by the Queen, again angering some Muslims in Iran and Pakistan.
The presence in India of another controversial writer, exiled Bangladeshi Taslima Nasreen, has sparked riots by Muslims offended by her books.
Threats against her have forced authorities to house her in a secret security facility in New Delhi since November, and she has appealed for more freedom.
(Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; editing by Alistair Scrutton)
© 2008 Reuters Click for restrictions
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