Editing Salman Rushdie (section)

==Religious and political beliefs==
===Religious background===
Rushdie came from a [[liberal Muslim]] family,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/salman-rushdie-39245|title=Salman Rushdie|website=Biography.com|language=en-us|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012044134/https://www.biography.com/people/salman-rushdie-39245|url-status=live}}</ref> but he is an [[atheist]]. In a 2006 interview with [[PBS]], Rushdie called himself a "hardline atheist".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/print/faithandreason101_print.html|title=Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason – Bill Moyers and Salman Rushdie|date=23 June 2006|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-date=13 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013154432/https://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/print/faithandreason101_print.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1989, in an interview following the ''fatwa'', Rushdie said that he was in a sense a lapsed Muslim, though "shaped by Muslim culture more than any other," and a student of Islam.<ref name = Meer/> In another interview the same year, he said, "My point of view is that of a secular human being. I do not believe in supernatural entities, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu."<ref>{{cite news|title=Fact, faith and fiction|work=[[Far Eastern Economic Review]]|date=2 March 1989|page=11}}</ref>

In December 1990, Rushdie issued a statement reaffirming his Muslim faith, distancing himself from statements made by characters in ''Satanic Verses'' that cast aspersion on Islam or Prophet Mohammad, and opposing the release of the paperback edition of the novel.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hedges |first1=Chris |title=Rushdie Seeks to Mend His Rift With Islam |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/25/books/rushdie-seeks-to-mend-his-rift-with-islam.html |access-date=26 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=25 December 1990 |archive-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626213338/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/25/books/rushdie-seeks-to-mend-his-rift-with-islam.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Later, in 1992, he cited the release of the statement as perhaps his lowest point, regretting its language, which he said he had not written.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kamen |first1=Al |title=In 1992, Salman Rushdie wasn't sure he'd ever be safe |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/08/15/salman-rushdie-in-hiding/ |access-date=26 June 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815194136/https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/08/15/salman-rushdie-in-hiding/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rushdie advocates the application of [[higher criticism]], pioneered during the late 19th century. In a guest opinion piece printed in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and ''[[The Times]]'' in mid-August 2005, Rushdie called for a reform in Islam.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1729998,00.html "Muslims unite! A new Reformation will bring your faith into the modern era"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112015156/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1729998,00.html |date=12 January 2008 }}, ''The Times'', 11 August 2005.</ref>

{{blockquote|What is needed is a move beyond tradition, nothing less than a reform movement to bring the core concepts of Islam into the modern age, a Muslim Reformation to combat not only the jihadist ideologues but also the dusty, stifling seminaries of the traditionalists, throwing open the windows to let in much-needed fresh air. ... It is high time, for starters, that Muslims were able to study the revelation of their religion as an event inside history, not supernaturally above it. ... Broad-mindedness is related to tolerance; open-mindedness is the sibling of peace.|author=Salman Rushdie|source="Muslims unite! A new Reformation will bring your faith into the modern era"}}

Rushdie is a critic of moral and [[cultural relativism]]. In an interview with [[Point of Inquiry]] in 2006, he described his view as follows:<ref>{{cite web|title=Salman Rushdie – Secular Values, Human Rights and Islamism|url=http://www.pointofinquiry.org/salman_rushdie_secular_values_human_rights_and_islamism/|access-date=11 October 2006|publisher=Point of Inquiry|archive-date=12 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112091143/http://www.pointofinquiry.org/salman_rushdie_secular_values_human_rights_and_islamism|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We need all of us, whatever our background, to constantly examine the stories inside which and with which we live. We all live in stories, so called grand narratives. Nation is a story. Family is a story. Religion is a story. Community is a story. We all live within and with these narratives. And it seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories. That you constantly argue about the stories. In fact the arguing never stops. The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. And through that argument you change your mind sometimes.… And that's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison.… Somebody else controls the story.… Now it seems to me that we have to say that a problem in contemporary Islam is the inability to re-examine the ground narrative of the religion.… The fact that in Islam it is very difficult to do this, makes it difficult to think new thoughts.|author=|title=|source=}}

Rushdie is an advocate of [[religious satire]]. He condemned the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting]] and defended comedic criticism of religions in a comment originally posted on [[English PEN]] where he called religions a medieval form of unreason. Rushdie called the attack a consequence of "religious totalitarianism", which according to him had caused "a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam". He said:<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/salman-rushdie-charlie-hebdo_n_6430904.html|title= Salman Rushdie Responds To Charlie Hebdo Attack, Says Religion Must Be Subject To Satire|first= Maddie|last= Crum|work= [[Huffington Post]]|date= 7 January 2015|access-date= 20 June 2015|archive-date= 21 April 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150421111119/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/salman-rushdie-charlie-hebdo_n_6430904.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. 'Respect for religion' has become a code phrase meaning 'fear of religion.' Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.}}

When asked about reading and writing as a human right, Rushdie states: "...there are the larger stories, the grand narratives that we live in, which are things like nation, and family, and clan, and so on. Those stories are considered to be treated reverentially. They need to be part of the way in which we conduct the discourse of our lives and to prevent people from doing something very damaging to human nature."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pen.org/press-clip/the-art-of-bravery-an-interview-with-salman-rushdie/|title=The Art of Bravery: An Interview with Salman Rushdie|work=Los Angeles Review of Books|via=PEN America|date=25 April 2013|access-date=1 May 2019|archive-date=1 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501180708/https://pen.org/press-clip/the-art-of-bravery-an-interview-with-salman-rushdie/|url-status=live}}</ref> Though Rushdie believes the freedoms of literature to be universal, the bulk of his fictions portrays the struggles of the marginally underrepresented. This can be seen in his portrayal of the role of women in his novel ''[[Shame (Rushdie novel)|Shame]]''. In this novel, Rushdie, "suggests that it is women who suffer most from the injustices of the Pakistani social order."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deszcz |first1=Justyna |title=Salman Rushdie's attempt at a feminist fairytale reconfiguration in ''Shame'' |journal=Folklore |date=April 2004 |volume=115 |issue=1 |pages=27–44 |id={{ProQuest|2152779627}} |doi=10.1080/0015587042000192510 |s2cid=145667781 | issn=0015-587X }}</ref> His support of feminism can also be seen in a 2015 interview with ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine's ''[[The Cut (website)|The Cut]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/11/15-famous-men-whether-theyre-feminists.html|title=15 Male Celebrities Answer 'Are You a Feminist?'|author=The Cut|work=The Cut|date=17 November 2015 |access-date=7 December 2015|archive-date=6 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706152328/https://www.thecut.com/2015/11/15-famous-men-whether-theyre-feminists.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Political background===
[[File:Paul Auster, Salman Rushdie and Shimon Peres.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Auster]] and Rushdie greeting Israeli President [[Shimon Peres]] with [[Caro Llewellyn]] in 2008]]

====UK politics====

In 2006, Rushdie stated that he supported comments by [[Jack Straw]], then-[[Leader of the House of Commons]] from Labour, who [[United Kingdom debate over veils|criticized the wearing]] of the [[niqab]] (a veil that covers all of the face except the eyes). Rushdie stated that his three sisters would never wear the veil. He said, "I think the battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women, so in that sense I'm completely on Straw's side."<ref>{{cite web|last=Wagner|first=Thomas|date=10 October 2006|title=Blair, Rushdie support former British foreign secretary who ignited veil debate|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20061010-0539-britain-veildispute.html|access-date=10 October 2006|publisher=SignOnSanDiego.com|archive-date=17 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417014236/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20061010-0539-britain-veildispute.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====US politics====
[[File:Bernie Sanders and Salman Rushdie.jpg|thumb|left|Rushdie and [[Bernie Sanders]] in 2004]]
Rushdie supported the [[1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], leading historian [[Tariq Ali]] to label Rushdie part of what he considered to be "warrior writers" as "the belligerati".<ref>[[Michael Mandel (law professor)|Mandel, Michael]]. 2004. ''How America Gets Away With Murder''. [[Pluto Press]]. p. 60.</ref> He was supportive of the US-led campaign to remove the [[Taliban]] in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 but was a vocal critic of the 2003 [[Iraq War|war in Iraq]]. He stated that while there was a "case to be made for the removal of [[Saddam Hussein]]", US [[unilateral]] military intervention was unjustifiable.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/09/iraq.usa |title=Letters, Salman Rushdie: No fondness for the Pentagon's politics &#124; World news |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 July 2007 |access-date=13 March 2010 |location=London |archive-date=31 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831182058/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/09/iraq.usa |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Terry Eagleton]], a former admirer of Rushdie's work and [[Marxist literary critic]], criticized him, saying he "cheered on [[the Pentagon]]'s criminal ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan."<ref>{{cite web|title=The ageing punk of lit crit still knows how to spit&nbsp;– Times Online|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2603984.ece|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512090519/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2603984.ece|archive-date=12 May 2008|access-date=30 July 2008}}</ref> Eagleton subsequently apologized for having misrepresented Rushdie's views.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Terry Eagleton|author2=Michael Kustow|author3=Matthew Wright|author4=Neil Morris|date=12 July 2007|title=Letters: Writers challenging so-called civilisation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/12/comment.letters|access-date=20 June 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|publisher=[[Scott Trust Limited]]|archive-date=21 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621032429/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/12/comment.letters|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rushdie supported the election of [[Barack Obama]] for the US presidency and has often criticized the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. He was involved in the [[Occupy Movement]], both as a presence at [[Occupy Boston]] and as a founding member of Occupy Writers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=OccupyWriters.com|url=http://occupywriters.com/|access-date=14 August 2022|website=occupywriters.com|archive-date=14 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814195835/http://occupywriters.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> Rushdie is a supporter of [[gun control]], blaming [[2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting|a shooting at a Colorado cinema]] in July 2012 on the [[American right to keep and bear arms]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=21 July 2012|title=Salman Rushdie stirs up frenzy with tweets in response to Colorado multiplex shooting &#124; New York Daily News|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2012/07/salman-rushdie-stirs-up-frenzy-with-tweets-in-response-to-colorado-multiplex-shoot|journal=Daily News|location=New York|access-date=11 November 2012|archive-date=4 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904120946/http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2012/07/salman-rushdie-stirs-up-frenzy-with-tweets-in-response-to-colorado-multiplex-shoot|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Cheney|first=Alexandra|date=20 July 2012|title=Salman Rushdie Sparks Furor With Colorado Theater Shooting Tweets – Speakeasy|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/07/20/salman-rushdie-sparks-furor-with-colorado-shooting-tweets/|journal=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=11 November 2012|archive-date=17 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017022642/http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/07/20/salman-rushdie-sparks-furor-with-colorado-shooting-tweets/|url-status=live}}</ref> He acquired [[American citizenship]] in 2016 and voted for [[Hillary Clinton]] in [[2016 United States presidential election|that year's election]].<ref>{{cite news|date=8 September 2017|title=Salman Rushdie Plays the Trump Card|first=Sarah |last=Begley|magazine=Time|url=https://time.com/magazine/south-pacific/4941231/september-25th-2017-vol-190-no-12-asia-south-pacific/|access-date=27 February 2019|archive-date=26 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226153207/http://time.com/magazine/south-pacific/4941231/september-25th-2017-vol-190-no-12-asia-south-pacific/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=9 February 2017|title=Salman Rushdie's new book features a 'narcissistic, media-savvy villain' with colored hair|first=Thu-Huong|last= Ha|work=Quartz|url=https://qz.com/905928/salman-rushdies-new-book-the-golden-house-features-a-narcissistic-media-savvy-villain-with-colored-hair/|access-date=27 February 2019|archive-date=28 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228065820/https://qz.com/905928/salman-rushdies-new-book-the-golden-house-features-a-narcissistic-media-savvy-villain-with-colored-hair/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Noting the rise of "populist authoritarian demagoguery" around the world, Rushdie said there was "a willingness amongst at least some part of the [US] population to cease to value the democratic values enshrined in the [[first amendment]]. So I think the problem is, I would now say, political more than primarily religious".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gabbatt |first=Adam |date=2023-09-14 |title='We're facing another old enemy': Rushdie warns against global authoritarianism |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/13/were-facing-another-old-enemy-rushdie-warns-against-global-authoritarianism |access-date=2023-10-29 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=29 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029120914/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/13/were-facing-another-old-enemy-rushdie-warns-against-global-authoritarianism |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Against religious extremism====
In the wake of the [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy|''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy]] in March 2006 Rushdie signed the manifesto ''Together Facing the New Totalitarianism'', a statement warning of the dangers of [[religious extremism]]. The Manifesto was published in the left-leaning French weekly ''[[Charlie Hebdo]]'' in March 2006.<ref>{{cite news|date=1 March 2006|title=Writers issue cartoon row warning|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4763520.stm|access-date=19 February 2014|archive-date=31 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131004236/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4763520.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> When [[Amnesty International]] suspended human rights activist [[Gita Sahgal]] for saying to the press that she thought the organization should distance itself from [[Moazzam Begg]] and his organization, Rushdie said:<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7034773.ece Salman Rushdie's statement on Amnesty International] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601171433/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7034773.ece |date=1 June 2010 }}, ''The Sunday Times'', 21 February 2010</ref> <blockquote>Amnesty…has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group [[Cageprisoners]], and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty's leadership is suffering from a kind of [[moral bankruptcy]], and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. It has greatly compounded its error by suspending the redoubtable Gita Sahgal for the crime of going public with her concerns. Gita Sahgal is a woman of immense integrity and distinction. ... It is people like Gita Sahgal who are the true voices of the human rights movement; Amnesty and Begg have revealed, by their statements and actions, that they deserve our contempt.</blockquote>

In July 2020, Rushdie was one of the 153 signers of the "Harper's Letter", also known as "[[A Letter on Justice and Open Debate]]", that expressed concern that "the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted."<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=7 July 2020 |title=A Letter on Justice and Open Debate {{!}} Harper's Magazine |url=https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ |access-date=23 August 2022 |magazine=Harper's Magazine |language=en |archive-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521055003/https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2023, Rushdie expressed his "horror" at both [[Hamas]]' [[2023 Hamas attack on Israel|attack on Israel]] and [[Israel]]'s [[Gaza war|retaliation]] in the [[Gaza Strip]] and called for a "cessation in hostilities".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231020-rushdie-says-filled-with-foreboding-at-israel-hamas-war |title=Rushdie urges end to fighting between Israel and Hamas |date=20 October 2023 |agency=France 24 |access-date=24 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030021616/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231020-rushdie-says-filled-with-foreboding-at-israel-hamas-war |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2024, Rushdie argued that if a Palestinian state ever came into being, it would resemble a "[[Taliban]]-like state" and become a client state of Iran. He further stated, "There's an emotional reaction to the death in Gaza, and that's absolutely right. But when it slides over towards antisemitism and sometimes to actual support of Hamas, then it's very problematic." He voiced his puzzlement regarding the current support of progressive students for what he described as a "fascist terrorist group".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Kevin E G |title=Salman Rushdie says a new Palestinian state would be 'Taliban-like' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/salman-rushdie-palestine-israel-hamas-b2548290.html |access-date=22 May 2024 |publisher=INDEPENDENT |date=20 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Creamer |first=Ella |date=2024-05-20 |title=Salman Rushdie says a Palestinian state formed today would be 'Taliban-like' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/20/salman-rushdie-says-a-palestinian-state-formed-today-would-be-taliban-like |access-date=2024-05-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=James |date=2024-05-19 |title=A free Palestine would be a Taliban-like state, says Salman Rushdie |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/19/palestine-taliban-like-state-salman-rushdie-taliban-knife/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

====South Asian politics and Kashmir====
Rushdie has been critical of Pakistan's former Prime Minister [[Imran Khan]] after Khan took personal jabs at him in a 2012 interview. Khan had called Rushdie "unbalanced", saying he has the "mindset of a small man", claiming they had "never met" and he would never "want to meet him ever", despite the two being spotted together in public numerous times.<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Leo Hickman |first=Leo|last=Hickman|date=26 March 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2012/mar/26/salman-rushdie-imran-khan |url-status=live |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004191404/https://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2012/mar/26/salman-rushdie-imran-khan |archive-date=4 October 2013 |title=Salman Rushdie v Imran Khan: it's war |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |language=en }}</ref>

Rushdie has expressed his preference for India over Pakistan on numerous occasions in writing and on live television interviews. In one such interview in 2003, Rushdie claimed "Pakistan sucks" after being asked about why he felt more like an outsider there than in India or England. He cited India's diversity, openness, and "richness of life experience" as his preference over Pakistan's "airlessness", resulting from a lack of personal freedom, widespread public corruption, and inter-ethnic tension.<ref>{{cite AV media |work=Biermann69 |date=27 December 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMlARal_oEc |url-status=live |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308094352/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMlARal_oEc |archive-date=8 March 2022 |title=Salman Rushdie on Pakistan Sucks! |via=YouTube |language=en }}</ref>

In Indian politics, Rushdie has criticized the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] and its chairperson, the incumbent Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]].<ref name="bodeill">{{cite news |title=A Narendra Modi victory would bode ill for India, say Rushdie and Kapoor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/indian-artists-letter-guardian-worry-election |first=Jason |last=Burke |date=10 April 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=Delhi |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=10 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710071016/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/indian-artists-letter-guardian-worry-election |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/14/rushdie-atwood-restore-citizenship-critic-modi|title=Rushdie and Atwood join calls to restore citizenship to critic of Modi|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=14 November 2019|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=23 December 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222120949/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/14/rushdie-atwood-restore-citizenship-critic-modi|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2006 interview about his novel ''[[Shalimar the Clown]]'', Rushdie laments the [[Kashmir conflict|division of Kashmir]] into zones of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Indian]] and [[Azad Kashmir|Pakistani administration]] as having cut his family down the middle.<ref name=Qantara>{{cite web|title=Interview with Salman Rushdie: Kashmir, Paradise Lost|first=Lewis|last=Gropp|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/interview-with-salman-rushdie-kashmir-paradise-lost|date=12 October 2009|access-date=4 April 2020|website=Qantara.de – Dialogue with the Islamic World|language=en|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617112637/https://en.qantara.de/content/interview-with-salman-rushdie-kashmir-paradise-lost|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2019, he criticized the [[revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir]], tweeting: "Even from seven thousand miles away it's clear that what's happening in Kashmir is an atrocity. Not much to celebrate this August 15th."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/salmanrushdie/status/1162021115805491200?lang=en|title=Even from seven thousand miles away it's clear that what's happening in Kashmir is an atrocity. Not much to celebrate this August 15th.|last=Rushdie|first=Salman|date=15 August 2019|website=@salmanrushdie|language=en|access-date=4 April 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308154152/https://twitter.com/salmanrushdie/status/1162021115805491200?lang=en|url-status=live}}</ref> He has previously referred to [[Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir|crackdowns in Indian-administered Kashmir]] as pretexts for the rise of [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|jihadism in the region]]:<ref name=Qantara /><blockquote>The phrase of "crackdown" that the Indian army uses really is a euphemism of mass destruction. And [[Rape during the Kashmir conflict|rape]]. And brutalisation. That happens all the time. It's still happening now. ... The decision to treat all Kashmiris as if they're potential terrorists is what has unleashed this, the kind of "holocaust" against the Kashmiri people. And we know ourselves, from most recent events in Europe, how important it is to resist treating all Muslims as if they're terrorists, but the Indian army has taken the decision to do the opposite of that, to actually decide that everybody is a potential combatant to treat them in that way. And the level of brutality is quite spectacular. And, frankly, without that the jihadists would have had very little response from the Kashmiri people who were not really traditionally interested in radical Islam. So now they're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, and that's the tragedy of the place. ... And really what I was trying to do was say exactly that the attraction of the jihad in Kashmir arose out of the activities of the Indian army. </blockquote>