Azerbaijan’s Islamists against Salman Rushdie

The Islamic Party of Azerbaijan has issued a statement in address to State Committee for Religious Affairs of the country, pointing at the publication by Unikal paper, which posted work by Salman Rushdie “The Satanic Verses.”

Religious activists say in the statement that the publication is an act of anti-Islamic policy and can seriously harm the situation in the country, causing serious confrontation.

“Such kinds of publications are aimed at offending Muslims of Azerbaijan, presenting them in a negative light,” said in the statement. “That is why the publication caused serious concerns among country’s religious people.”

The activists are claiming to take the law of the newspaper in charge of offending country’s Muslims through putting them face to face to Islamic world.

Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses”, 1988, has become the centre of a major controversy, drawing protests from Muslims in several countries. Some of the protests were violent, in which death threats were issued to Rushdie, including a so-called fatwā against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, in February 1989.