Rushdie Criticises Random House for Pulling Out "Jewel of Medina"

Look who has jumped into the fray! The Sherry Jones novel "The Jewel of Medina" which I wrote about in this post, and which was withdrawn by Random House has invited the ire of none other than Indian expatriate Salman Rushdie, who lived under a fatwa till recently. And what's even more surprising is that Random House happens to be Salman's own publisher.

Rushdie criticizes publisher for pulling novel: Read the story on this link. Excerpt:

'I am very disappointed to hear that my publishers, Random House, have canceled another author's novel, apparently because of their concerns about possible Islamic reprisals,' Rushdie said Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

'This is censorship by fear, and it sets a very bad precedent indeed.'

As a writer and as an individual this writer has guts to stick it out for what he really believes in. Guess what operates these days is 'censorship by fear.' This fact exists in Bombay and in India, too. The attack on editor Kumar Ketkar, editor-in-chief of Loksatta shows that attempts to impose 'censorship by fear' exists on our own doorsteps.