THE WISDOM OF AVOIDANCE

irresponsibility and resorted to knee-jerk reactions by making strong statements against the book. If Muslim leaders had thoroughly investigated the matter, they would have discovered that Salman Rushdie’s work is not only based on fiction but is also of sub-standard literary quality, rendering it unreadable. If the book had been ignored, it would have naturally faded away. However, the thoughtless uproar by Muslims needlessly revived its prominence. In the chaos, even those who would have never considered reading the book were inclined to purchase and read it. Margareta du Rietz, a reader of Time Magazine, aptly commented on this issue. In an article published in TIME on March 20, 1989, she observed that the novel had received little attention until Khomeini’s intervention, which propelled it to worldwide fame. According to the New York Times, Salman Rushdie’s book became a best-seller in the United States. Various publications in newspapers and magazines have discussed Salman Rushdie extensively. A letter by WM Sheikh, titled ‘Ignore Rushdie,’ was printed in the ‘The Times of India’ on November 9, 1988 as follows: “I have read various comments on Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel, ‘The Satanic Verses,’ including his letter to our Prime Minister, and I believe that the decision to ban the book is both unfortunate and unnecessary. Some years ago, Mr. Rushdie wrote a novel called ‘Midnight’s Children,’ published in 1981,