Meanwhile, when has Salman Rushdie ever condemned the jihadi bloodlust that he has lived in fear of since 1989, and that cost him his eye and almost killed him? Does he think the jihadis will go easy on him if he ignores the jihad?
“Salman Rushdie, who lost his eye to Islamic radicalism, expresses concern about ‘Hindu nationalism’ in India: Read why his virtue signalling is misplaced,” OpIndia, December 8, 2025:
On 5th December, Bloomberg published its interview with author Salman Rushdie conducted by British presenter Mishal Husain. Interestingly, Mishal, who has family roots in Pakistan, has family ties to Rushdie and it was explicitly acknowledged in their conversation. Husain’s mother and Rushdie were first cousins, making the interaction a blend of journalistic inquiry and intra-family reminiscence.
The interview covered Rushdie’s recovery after the 2022 stabbing, his writing, his memories of Bombay (now Mumbai), and his reflections on free speech. Yet, when the subject shifted towards India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his responses began to echo a familiar script shaped not by recent engagements (the ban on his book The Satanic Verses has been lifted under the Modi government) or first-hand experience. His views, which he openly admitted, were the impressions given to him by his “journalist friends” in India. It is these second-hand interpretations, and the ideological leanings that come with them, that now appear to underpin his concerns about the world’s largest democracy.
In the interview, Rushdie stated that he feels “very worried” about India today. However, this concern was not rooted in personal observation. It was based on the “information” he received from his journalist friends based in India. This admission is crucial, because it reveals that his commentary is built upon the very ecosystem that has spent a decade constructing a narrative of democratic decline in India.
These are the voices that have shouted “press freedom crisis” and “free speech under threat” at every turn, even as India’s media remains among the most vibrant, adversarial and politically diverse landscapes in the world. Interestingly, the journalist friends of Rushdie who told him freedom of speech of journalists is under threat continue to speak against PM Modi consistently without much legal backlash from the government, and they have been doing it since he took charge as the Prime Minister of the country.
Drawing solely from the conversations with his friends, Rushdie claimed that journalists, writers, professors and intellectuals face “attacks on freedom” in India. He suggested that the Indian state wishes to “rewrite history” to cast Hindus as inherently virtuous and Muslims as inherently villainous. He even compared the present era to Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, a period of actual dictatorship involving mass arrests, censorship and suspension of civil liberties.
His framing of India into this pre-decided mould reflects less about the country and more about the narrow ideological lens through which his sources view it. The ease with which he repeated these talking points, despite not having visited India in years, showed how detached such intellectual critiques have become from the lived reality of ordinary Indians.
The notion that India’s press is under siege is one of the most carefully manufactured narratives of the past decade. Rushdie adopted the line of thought which is entirely based on left-liberal activist-journalists who have internationalised their personal legal troubles. It exposed how misinformation, which was once laundered through the Lutyens media circle, has emerged as unquestioned truth.
In the Indian context, the face of this narrative has often been the likes of Rana Ayyub, who has repeatedly described herself as being “targeted” for her writings. However, she was never actually attacked by the government agencies for what she wrote. She came under scrutiny and faced legal troubles because of alleged financial impropriety, including misappropriation of funds raised in the name of COVID-19 relief and charity.
The action taken by the government agencies against her was detailed and procedural, not ideological. She was not targeted because of what she wrote but because of what she did with the money she had collected to “help the poor”.
Not to forget, when Rushdie was attacked by an Islamist in 2022, Rana Ayyub had condemned it. However, after facing backlash from her fellow Islamists, she “corrected her mistake” and deleted the post from social media platform….
For someone who lost an eye, endured severe injuries and continues to live with the trauma inflicted by religious extremism, this reticence is stark. He did not mention mullahs who have issued calls for violence, radical clerics who continue to inflame sentiments, or the persistent threat posed by Islamist extremism worldwide. Instead, he chose to analyse and criticise the fabric of Hindu society, despite having no comparable personal history of persecution from it….
Daniel Dagovitz says
The Evil that is Islam is not Islamophobia…
It is clearly and completely “Islamofact”!
The war has already started; you can either fall to your knees to the Evil Muslim cult…
Or Stand and fight for the freedom we believe in!
It is your choice!
Sword of God Militia!
Daniel Dagovitz says
Why was “Truth Revolt” cancelled?
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Unlike the mohammedans, I won’t call for his death. I’d just ignore him. Anybody who has had the misfortune of reading his works would know that the purpose of his writing is just to flaunt how erudite he is and his inflated vocabulary, rather than try and explain things to his readers
So good luck to anybody who wants to take him seriously in figuring out his message. I’m not sure that even a PhD in English will enable you to comprehend his message. All this aside from the fact that since he’s not a citizen of India – not even an OCI – why is he bothered about what path Indians choose to take? This is also the man who once compared Margaret Thatcher’s government w/ the Third Reich
As for the contents of it, as I have pointed out in the past, two things:
⮞ There are no genuine Hindu parties in India. Anybody who doubts that, just try celebrating Hindu festivals any time of the year w/o it being marred either by muslim saboteurs, or by bureaucratic activists who want to make it as difficult as possible. Eg Diwali used to be celebrated w/ fireworks w/ gusto, whereas now, in the name of environmental pollution, fireworks are banned. Even though that’s just a day, compared w/ the rest of the year, when the country competes w/ China for the worst environment due primarily due to construction, and then motor vehicles and industrial waste
⮞ There are no official Hindu countries in the world. There are some 23 countries that are officially islamic (not talking about membership of the OIC) and some 14 countries that are officially Christian, be it Catholic, Protestant or other. Nepal used to be officially Hindu under its royalty, but became secular when the socialists took over. India was a secular 💩🕳️ since 1947, despite muslims getting the 2 pieces of Pakistan. Mauritius is the third country where Hindus are somewhere from 47-52% of the population. But none of these are officially Hindu countries. Unlike Israel, there is no country that Hindus automatically have a “right of return”
⮞ Putting aside official, there are some 100 Christian majority countries, and 50 muslim majority countries. There are just 3 Hindu majority countries, and a lot of people have a beef w/ that. Just like they have a beef w/ Israel being a Jewish state
So yeah, if anyone is remotely interested in refuting this overrated author, the above 3 points should help one do it
gravenimage says
+1
I AM THE INFIDEL YOUR ALLAH WARNED YOU ABOUT says
Don’t forget… Salman Rushdie is a muslim i.e. follower of that evil, satanic murderous pedophile Muhammad (MOREHAMHEAD). He will never go against his prophet (poophead).
Never trust a muslim no matter how good and sincere he portrays himself…… remember the word TAQQIYA
࿗Infidel࿘ says
You’re forgetting the Satanic verses, and the whole premise of why Ayatollah Khomenei put a bounty on his head, and why muslims in India agitated so that India banned his book. (Which actually was no big loss to Indian readers)
He is actually anti-religious for all religions, not just islam. Which is why I have never considered him a hero, much less an ally
I AM THE INFIDEL YOUR ALLAH WARNED YOU ABOUT says
Don’t forget… Salman Rushdie is a muslim i.e. follower of that evil, satanic murderous pedophile Muhammad (MOREHAMHEAD). He will never go against his prophet (poophead).
Never trust a muslim no matter how good and sincere he portrays himself…… remember the word TAQQIYA
somehistory says
The one-eyed muzzie is in the business of making money….from his evil belief system, islime.
Naturally, as a muzzie, he points the finger at non-muzzies as being a problem.
Patrick White says
Dreadful writer and dreadful human’ Rushdie’s only contribution to modern history has been to inadvertently call attention to the unrelenting savagery of Islam.
MK says
this man is basically a Muslim radical. he still wants to support Muslims even though he was almost killed by Muslims
Alex Lund says
I have a suspicion.
Maybe the hardcore islamists made him an offer he couldnt refuse.
Speak out in favor of islam (and against hindus, christians etc) and they wont target him for a few months or more depending how strong his attacks are.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Actually, at some point after that fatwa, he announced that he was still a muslim, not an apostate, to get some of the muslims off his back. He doesn’t fall in the same category as Ibn Warraq, Ali Sina, Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ridvan Aydemir, Brother Rachid or anyone like them
gravenimage says
Agreed, Infidel.
Winston 101 says
Mr. Rushdie still wants to criticize all religion, as I agree he should be able to do.
I don’t think I could do as much as he has in the cause of Free Speech.
Sadly, suffering does not automatically confer Wisdom on the sufferer.
Perhaps he’s just not quite so eager to take on the Islam that has hurt him
so severely in the past. The same Islam that still maintains a fatwa
on his life and constantly limits his movements.
To criticize “Hindu Nationalism” is such a paltry position in the face of Islam’s dismemberment of India, India’s mistake of adopting “the Soviet model”
and the continuous danger Islam poses to India and the World.
Murderous Islam can hunt you, and hurt you, to the point that it affects your ability
to literally, and figuratively, see.
Winsto 101 says
“Satanic Verses” was published in 1988.
Khomenei’s fatwa was issued in 1989.
Only one of these things could happen today.
Hint: It’s not a book publication.
Rushdie might have thought he lived in a Great Britain that valued
literature and free speech. It once did, but then it imported Islam.
Censorious, violent, murderous, hysterical, and permanently
offended, but always justified, Islam.
Rushdie, no doubt, has had to adjust his defiance in
accordance with the reality of London being an Islamized city.
He has moved to New York City so he has a better chance at
staying alive and can be close to his grown children –
who live in London(istan.)👿
With the election of Mamdani, he might want to
rethink his location.
Kepha says
I have my problem with some of the Hindu nationalists in India, too. They are almost as bad as the Muslims and Communists when it comes to anti-Christian hatred and persecution; especially when it comes to certain “tribals”who won’t go through the decency of becomeing low-caste Hindus first.
somehistory says
Some few months back, I read of some Christians being put adrift in a small boat by some members of the Indian army. According to those involved, it had much to do with the hatred the Hindus had toward the Christians.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Except that they don’t want to have Hindu rule worldwide, only in India (and Nepal). Also, there is no anti-Christian hatred, until the Christians in question get into evangelizing, and telling them that they worship false gods, and requiring them to desecrate their idols as a part of the ritual. Like I’ve argued, it’s the first 2 commandments that makes Christianity pretty toxic vis a vis other religions. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a problem
gravenimage says
Salman Rushdie, severely injured and almost killed by an Islamic jihadi, warns against Hindu nationalism
………………………………………………………..
Why am I not surprised? I support Salman Rushdie and his right to write and speak without being threatened by homicidal Muslims. But there is no doubt that he regularly appeases Islam.