Salman Rushdie Receives Knighthood

Posted on June 26, 2008

Salman Rushdie was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth. The honor, which was announced last year, infuriated Muslim extremists who want Rushdie executed.

Salman Rushdie slipped into Buckingham Palace yesterday to receive the knighthood that had angered many parts of the Muslim world when it was announced last year that the Queen would knight the controversial author.

In a break with normal procedure, it was not announced in advance that the 61-year-old Rushdie would be among those knighted. The palace wouldn't comment on whether his name had been withheld for security reasons. Security has been a major concern for Rushdie since 1989, when Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for his death, accusing him of blasphemy against the Muslim world in the 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.

The edict forced Indian-British Rushdie to live underground, protected by British special agents, until the sentence was finally withdrawn in 1998. "This is, as I say, an honour not for any specific book but for a very long career in writing, and I'm happy to see that recognized," Rushdie said after the ceremony.

Queen Elizabeth also revoked the ceremonial knighthood of reviled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. The unusual move was to express Britain's disgust with the human rights abuses that have occurred under Mugabe's rule. We'd never heard of revoking a knighthood, but in this instance it certainly is warranted.

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