The new debate is taking place in the country, following the condemnation of the knife attack on Salman Rushdie by former prime minister Imran Khan.
What did Khan say?
According to Guardian , PTI chief Imran Khan condemned the attack on Rushdie, and said the anger of Muslims against the author was understandable but it still didn’t justify the attack.
“I think it is terrible, sad,” Imran told the newspaper in a comment on the violent attack that put Rushdie on a ventilator.
“Rushdie understood because he came from a Muslim family. He knows the love, respect, and reverence of a prophet that lives in our hearts. He knew that. So the anger I understood, but you can’t justify what happened,” the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Reaction
The new debate has begun and Imran Khan is facing backlash from people belonging to various walks of life. The people are asking how come the man who is claiming to build Riyasta-e-Madina, can condemn an attack on a man who committed blasphemy. Meanwhile,
Rejecting the criticism, Khan —in a video also shared by the PTI’s official Twitter account—that The Guardian had taken his statement out of context. “I had refused to attend an event in India over its invitation to Rushdie,” he recalled, noting that Rushdie had given a speech against him over his boycott. “During the interview, I had sought to explain the Islamic position on [legal action against] blasphemy, and had cited the Sialkot tragedy as an example,” he said. “It was in this context that I had talked about Salman Rushdie,” he added.
Salman Rushdie, a blasphemous author
Born in Bombay, British India, in 1946, Salman Rushdie is called an enemy of Islam due to his blasphemous book ‘The Satanic Verses’ which was published in 1988.
This book sparked protests and outrage in the Muslim world following its publication. It has been banned in most of the Islamic countries including Pakistan and Iran and also banned in India for hate speech. The book was accused of blasphemy by Muslims and of mocking their faith.
The attack
Salman Rushdie was airlifted to hospital after being stabbed in the neck in New York.
As per reports, he was on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York when a young man stormed the stage and “punched or stabbed” him. New York police said he suffered a stab wound to his neck in an on-stage attack and was airlifted to the hospital.
