On 14 February 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie for the supposed blasphemy in his novel “The Satanic Verses”. On 7 March 1989, the UK and Iran broke off diplomatic relations over the threat to Rushdie’s life. Just days before, Ian McEwan took darkly satirical aim at the mindset that could offer a bounty for the death of a novelist. He also addressed the painful conundrum faced by many authors at that moment: how far and how publicly could they express support for Rushdie and his right to free speech without themselves being put in fear for their life? It was, suggested McEwan, an intractable problem that set an abstract philosophical position in direct opposition with physical retribution.
In the current public debate on freedom of expression there is something not altogether free. One writer told an editor last week that she feared for her life if she spoke out for The Satanic Verses. Another writer said he felt strongly about the right to publish but if he made his views public he would only make things “worse” for Salman Rushdie.
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