How India became first country to ban Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verse' 33 years ago

Former diplomat and minister Natwar Singh has claimed that then PM Rajiv Gandhi’s decision to ban Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses in 1988 was justified. Speaking with PTI, Natwar Singh said, “The decision taken purely for law and order reasons was justified.” The book was banned by India in October 1988. At that time, Congress leader P Chidambaram was the home minister who later said he was personally not in favour of banning the book. Salman Rushdie was attacked on Friday by a 24-year-old whose social media is filled with supporting posts for the Iran government. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khameini had issued a death fatwa against Rushdie in 1989 over the book. Watch this video to find out why the book remains controversial 33 years later.