The Rushdie Affair: A Lesson Unlearned in Corruptive Nationalism

The nation which once embraced cultural difference as a common novelty in an infant society has become ridiculous enough to allow an Austrian Immigrant governor of California to castigate the incoming immigrant population.  The Rushdie affair provides a lesson to our own nation as the political right gather to build walls out of shame of U.S. citizens with a sense of humanity and the cultural intolerance that is a pathetic hypocrisy which only invite criticism from other nations of the world.

The Rushdie Affair brought the issues of multiculturalism, immigration, and ‘rule of law’ into the spotlight of the media.  The Publication of Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Versus, contained ideas that, unintentionally, according to Rushdie, blasphemed the Islamic faith.  The Muslim population made their disapproval of Rushdie’s blasphemous statements quite clear.  Massive riots took place to demand the retraction of The Satanic Versus.  Muslims from all over Britain gathered to demonstrate the degree of their discontent by calling for Rushdie’s murder.  The seriousness of the Muslim’s threats was made clear when Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa.  Rushdie was forced into hiding when he realized the degree to which his safety was being compromised.  Somehow Rushdie managed to stay alive through years of persecution from his Islamic adversaries.  In the book, Letters From London, Julian Barnes describes the resilience of Rushdie through his dangerous ordeal.  Barnes states, “Rushdie has kept going.  On February 14, he celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa.  The verb in that sentence may seem uneasy, but it fits.  It is a matter for celebration that he has survived five years with a million dollar price on his head; equally, he has survived vilification, demonization, burning in effigy, attacks from a vengeful clerisy abroad, and shameful denunciations from fellow Britons at home” (264- 266).  Barnes illustrates the degree to which Rushdie became an outcast.  The presence of Islam was widespread at this point so Rushdie remained in danger no matter where he chose to hide.  Although the British government did provide Rushdie with some protection, many Britons lacked any form of sympathy for his plight.

The Rushdie affair confirmed Thatcher and Major’s policies on immigration.  Thatcher, in agreement with the New Right views on British identity accepted an ethnic definition.  Tom Nairn of Marxism Today comments on these racist ideas in his article, “Nations: Breaking up is hard to do.”  Nairn writes: