Journalist Mobeen Azhar examines the impact that Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel is still having in the world today.
The novel, which many Muslims considered blasphemous, originally sparked protests in Yorkshire, where Azhar begins his programme, but the protests eventually spread across borders, eventually resulting in Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issuing a fatwa on Rusdie in 1989.
Azhar examines the debate between those who considered the book offensive and those defending Rushdie’s freedom of speech. There are also some more unusual interviewees, including a former member of the far-right National Front who claims the novel became a recruiting tool for their party.
The Satanic Verses: 30 Years On is on BBC Two at 21.00.
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