The decision of Britain to award Salman Rushdie a knighthood has not only reignited debate and controversy surrounding the novelist but also caused uproar in many parts of the Muslim world for insulting Islam in his novel ?The Satanic Verses? in which he describes a cosmic battle between good and evil and combines fantasy, philosophy and farce resulting in immediate condemnation by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

The reactions have been very scary and extremely worrying. There have been reports of protesters in Pakistan burning effigies of Rushdie and Queen Elizabeth II. Politicians have also got in the act. Pakistan and Iran summoned their British ambassadors to protest the move. Iranian Foreign Ministry official Ebrahim Rahimpour told the British ambassador to Tehran, Geoffrey Adams, that the decision was a ?provocative act? that has angered Muslims. Meanwhile, Pakistan?s Foreign Ministry, called in British High Commissioner Robert Brinkley to protest London?s utter lack of sensitivity.

In London, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that he respected the right of Britain to decide who received the honour but the decision could be used to cause trouble. According to Pakistan's religious affairs minister, ?if someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the ?sir? title.?

Despite the likely backlash from some Muslim countries, the Arts and Media Committee proceeded to honour Salman Rushdie, one of the most prominent novelists of the late 20th century whose 13 books have won numerous awards, including the Booker Prize for ?Midnight's Children? in 1981, purely on the basis of his writing. The Committee was concerned only with literary merit and address a number of questions before considering him for the knighthood. The following are the criteria which are normally used for selection: (i) What makes the person worthy, (ii) Has he/she gone the extra mile, (iii) Has he/she change things for the better, (iv) Does he/she carry the respect of his/her peers and (v) Has he/she achieve against the odds.

According to the British Home Secretary, John Reid, ?We have a set of values that accrues people honours for their contribution to literature even when they don't agree with our point of view. We have a right to express opinions and a tolerance of other people's point of view, and we don't apologize for that.?

Dictated to by the extremists

While one can justifiably agree that it was sensitive and provocative, the right to express opinions must be of over-riding and paramount value to the modern society. Many Christians were offended by Monty Python?s ?Life of Brian?, while some Jewish people felt the same with Mel Gibson's film ?The Passion of the Christ? but there were no such furore at that time.

There is no question that we have to be sensitive of every people and every country but we have to take the approach that in the long-run the protection of the right to express opinions in literature, argument, politics or anything for that matter, is of over-riding value to our society. We are living in a modern and fast developing world where we are striving to implement policies like human rights, equality, fairness etc. We need to, therefore, protect vigorously freedom of expression everywhere and not be blackmailed or threatened by a select few who may have ulterior motives for their own benefits. And most importantly, we should be careful and weary of some who will find any excuse to destabilise the status quo for being ?insulted? at the slightest, most innocuous gesture.

The burning of effigies and reactions of the last few days in some parts of the world, have yet again demonstrated that we are being dictated to by the extremists. The knighthood to Salman Rushdie is in recognition of his literary works which have been recognised around the world and for which he has won a number of awards. How it is an insult to Islam is incomprehensible. I bet all these Muslims around the world who are very angry and fired up haven't even seen a copy of the Satanic Verses, or any of Mr Rushdie's other works, let alone read and understood them.

The decision to award a knighthood to Salman Rushdie was the prerogative of the British government and not that of foreign countries. If these countries don?t like it, they should put up with it and shut up.

Doctoria