(Picture taken from The daily Vox)
This morning I was interviewed on Channel Islam with regards
to the assault case against a Durban-based South African author Zainub Priya
Dala. For those of you who are not aware of the story, Zainub Priya Dala was a
guest at the “Time of the Writer” literature festival in Durban and as part of
the festivals outreach program she traveled to Chatsworth for a workshop where she addressed learners
and students at a community centre. Whilst interacting with the public she was asked
which writers she admired to which she replied quite casually Arundhati Roy and
Salman Rushdie. After mentioning the name Salman Rushdie some of the learners
and teachers stood up and left. Later that afternoon she started receiving
threatening text messages from complete strangers asking her to repent as a
Muslim woman for admiring the work of Salman Rushdie. Then last week Wednesday
whilst driving in Durban she was followed allegedly by three Muslim men in
their early thirties. They tried pushing her off the road and eventually when
she stopped at a busy intersection, the men assaulted her. They took out a
knife and placed it across her throat and then smashed her face with a brick
leaving her bleeding on the side of the road before speeding off. Dala
mentioned that they screamed at her calling her “Rushdie’s bitch”
In this morning’s interview I was quite shocked that the
presenter asked me if the author is Muslim. For a start what does being Muslim
have to do with the fact that three Muslim males assaulted a woman. No religion
condones violence or beating up people simply because they do not conform to
mainstream ideologies. What I find quite interesting is that many South
Africans have not even read the Satanic verses to understand why the book is
considered blasphemous. The mere fact that they hear the name Salman Rushdie
triggers the aggression within them. I have read the Satanic verses and whilst
I do not condone everything that the man has written I have to acknowledge the
fact that the man is a literary genius. He has an excellent command of the
English language and his style of writing is unique. We need to take cognisance
of the fact that he has not only written the Satanic verses. Of course, it is
this one book that catapulted him to fame for all the wrong reasons but he has
written many other books like “Midnight’s children” and “The ground beneath her
feet” which were literary masterpieces that received international acclaim.
The assault on this Durban based author allegedly by three
Muslim men was an act of cowardice on their part. It was a disgusting act that
totally goes against the teaching of Islam or any religion for that matter. The
presenter shocked me even more by stating that whilst the act was unacceptable
maybe she needed to be more careful and respected the sentiments of the
community by not mentioning Salman Rushdie, that perhaps in this case freedom
of expression did not apply. He chose quite a silly rationale by stating that
if you were in Israel as a traveler would you mention the name Adolf Hitler
and speak about the Holocaust. To which
I replied that you cannot compare South Africa to Israel. The demographics of
each country is very different. We reside in a democratic country where we are
allowed freedom of speech and expression. The public has a go at the president
of the country on social media. Muslims residing in this country are not a law
unto themselves. We do not live in some isolated island. We reside in an
integrated society and we need to respect the laws of this country.
A few months ago Mufti Ismail Menk was assaulted by a group
of Muslim men in Durban who did not agree with his views on certain aspects of
religion. Does this mean that Mufti Menk should start respecting the sentiments
of that community and stop voicing his opinion on live television? The irony
about this whole assault case is that no where did the author speak about Islam
or religion. No where did she say that she agrees with what is written in the
Satanic verses. All she said was that she admires the way he writes.
