Low profile advised on Rushdie book

Press, 20 February 1989, Page 6

Low profile advised on Rushdie book

By

JANE DUNBAR

Christchurch bookstore owners would be wise to keep copies of Salman Rushdie’s controversial book off the shelves for a while, according to a University of Canterbury lecturer.

Dr William Shepard, a senior religious studies lecturer specialising in the Islamic religion, said if he were a bookshop owner he would give the book a low profile. “From a practical point of view, I’d take the book off the shelves for a couple of weeks and then not have it anywhere too conspicuous,” he said. “But as a matter of principle, I would hate to see the book vanish.”

Dr Shepard said it would not be in the interest of Britain or New Zealand to react too strongly to the Rushdie death threat. “We should make it clear we do not approve, but not go so far as to break off ties,” he said. It was in the cause of long-term peace that efforts were being made to bring the radical Iran back into the community

of nations, he said. People should bear in mind it was not very long ago people were killed in the West for speaking and writing things that were considered offensive, said Dr Shepard. Copies of “The Satanic Verses” are not easy to find in Christchurch.

Scorpio Books and Whitcoulls have sold out, and the Canterbury Public Library’s five copies are all out on loan.

The owner of Scorpio Books, Mr David Cameron, said there had been “quite a bit of interest” in the book, but the Penguin warehouse in Auckland was out of stock.

When copies of the book became available again he would get some in stock, but would give the book a low profile.

Whitcoulls’ Christchurch book manager, Mr Peter Stuart, said his personal opinion was the book should not be on the shelves if it was so upsetting to people. “These people feel very strongly about their religion, and there is a lot f them,” he said. “It’s pretty heavy on the other

side of the world.” There had been no instruction from Whitcoulls’ central office not to stock the book, however.

The city librarian, Mrs Dorothea Brown, said the library would continue lendinG the book. But the sort of threats being made across the world did not make for a very “safe feeling,” she said. The secretary-general of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, Mr Abdur Razzaq, said any fears concerning stocking the book in New Zealand were “ridiculous.”

“This is a free country,” he said. Such fears were “Alice in Wonderland” stuff, generated by “extreme media hype,” said Mr Razzaq.

Muslims in New Zealand were keen “to balance the attacks made against Islam” with their own arguments so people could decide for themselves. The federation would be happy to send information to anyone wanting to know why Muslims were so offended by “The Satanic Verses,” said Mr Razzaq.