A ”limited stock” of the book, which caused a furore against its author and content that was deemed blasphemous by Muslim organisations the world over, has been selling at Bahrisons Booksellers in the national capital for the past few days.
”It has been a few days since we got the book, and the response has been very good so far. The sale has been good,” Bahrisons Booksellers’ owner Rajni Malhotra told PTI.
The book, priced at ₹1,999, is only available at Bahrisons Booksellers stores across Delhi-NCR.
@SalmanRushdie ‘s The Satanic Verses is now in stock at Bahrisons Booksellers!
This groundbreaking & provocative novel has captivated readers for decades with its imaginative storytelling and bold themes. It has also been at the center of intense global controversy since it’s pic.twitter.com/e0mtQjoMCb
— Bahrisons Bookseller (@Bahrisons_books) December 23, 2024
Manasi Subramaniam, Editor-in-Chief, Penguin Random House India, also posted on the social media platform, quoting Rushdie.
‘Language is courage: the ability to conceive a thought, to speak it, and by doing so to make it true.’
At long last. @SalmanRushdie’s The Satanic Verses is allowed to be sold in India after a 36-year ban. Here it is at Bahrisons Bookstore in New Delhi.????: @Bahrisons_books pic.twitter.com/fDEycztan5
— Manasi Subramaniam (@sorcerical) December 23, 2024
Other bookstores do not plan to import the book.
In November, the Delhi High Court closed the proceedings on a petition challenging the Rajiv Gandhi government’s ban on the import of the novel, saying since authorities have failed to produce the relevant notification, it has to be ”presumed that it does not exist”.
The order came after government authorities failed to submit the notification dated October 5, 1988, which banned the import of the book.
”In the light of the aforesaid circumstances, we have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists, and therefore, we cannot examine the validity thereof and dispose of the writ petition as infructuous,” the court said.
The book ran into trouble shortly after its publication, eventually leading to Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers. Rushdie spent nearly 10 years in hiding in the UK and the US.
In July 1991, the novelist’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was killed in his office.
On August 12, 2022, Lebanese-American Hadi Matar stabbed Rushdie on stage at a lecture, leaving him blind in one eye.
Also read: ‘I remember thinking I was dying’: Salman Rushdie recounts near-death experience
First Published: Dec 25, 2024 3:51 PM IST
