LAST WORD

of them would have been able to stand reading it from cover to cover. Writing in the Time magazine, Margareta du Rietz very rightly pointed out, ‘Very few took note of the novel. Now, thanks to Khomeini, it is world-famous.’ It was Khomeini’s fatwa calling for the death of Rushdie and the violent reaction of Muslims the world over calling for Rushdie’s murder that made this thoroughly unreadable book the number one bestseller in America. The publisher of the book even thanked Khomeini for being ‘its biggest salesman.’ In a letter to ‘The Times of India’, a certain W.M. Shaikh rightly pointed out that while Rushdie’s novel was indeed insulting, Muslims should have ignored the book and let it die a natural death, rather than violently agitate against it and its author because this would only give it added publicity. I read Salman Rushdie’s book entitled ‘Midnight’s Children,’ in which he states, “I am hanging between belief and disbelief.” I felt that this statement in which Rushdie expressed his struggle between belief and uncertainty in religion extends beyond his personal experience to encompass an entire generation. What Salman Rushdie has articulated about himself resonates with millions of Muslims. Roughly 75% of the modern educated Muslim youth grapple with this uncertainty. The only distinction is that Rushdie, being a professional writer, chose to pour the darkness of his heart and mind onto paper for temporary gain. Others, engaged in different professions, earn their