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Rushdie's bitch

Started by Valigarmander, March 24, 2015, 02:57:47 PM

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Valigarmander

Indian-origin author assaulted in South Africa for 'praising' Rushdie
QuoteAn Indian-origin author in South Africa was brutally assaulted and verbally abused after she praised controversial writer Salman Rushdie whose work has angered Muslims around the world.

Zainub Priya Dala was hit in the face with a brick last week after she praised Rushdie's writing at a school in Durban, a city on the country's east coast.

Dala had been due to launch her novel What About Meera in the city on Saturday, which was ironically Human Rights Day in South Africa, but had to postpone it after being injured.

She was reportedly followed from the hotel where the festival was taking place by three men in a vehicle who forced her car off the road.

When she stopped her vehicle, two of the men came to the car, one allegedly putting a knife to her throat while the other struck her in the face with a brick as he verbally abused her.

Dala said she believed the attack occurred as a result of a comment she made during a writing forum for schools earlier in the week, when she and two other authors were asked to comment on their favourite authors.

She replied that she liked the styles of Rushdie and Indian author Arundhati Roy, which led to a number of teachers and students attending the workshop walking out in protest.

Reacting to the attack, Rushdie said the attack on Dala was "appalling and disgraceful". "I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope you're recovering well. All good wishes," Rushdie said in a tweet.

In her reply, Dala said: "Thank you. I have my family and children around me and am recovering." Dala has filed an assault case with the police but there have been no arrests yet amid an appeal for any witnesses to come forward.

Steve Connolly, managing director of Random House and her publisher, said: "We condemn completely the brutish attack on author ZP Dala." "Have we reached such a state of intolerance that we cannot listen to one writer profess admiration for another without wanting to attack her with a brick and a knife?

"It is ironic that at a time when the communities of Durban are welcoming writers, some elements are attacking those writers who hold different views. We must not let this shameful and violent bigotry prevail," Connolly said. Rushdie spent a decade in hiding following a fatwa by Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, calling for his death because of controversial views in 'The Satanic Verses.' Muslim outcry led to withdrawal of an invitation to Rushdie to a South African literary festival in 1988.

A similar situation prevailed in India in 2012, when Rushdie withdrew because of death threats he had received.

Aletheia

Best way to show that your religion is one of peace is by using force with extreme prejudice.  :axe:

Quote from: Jakenessif you believe in the supernatural, you do not understand modern science. Period.

Valigarmander

Update: she's reportedly been shoved into a mental institution after refusing to renounce her remarks.
QuotePEN America report that South African author ZP Dala has been taken to a mental institution in reprisal for her comments about Salman Rushdie during the Time of the Writer Festival in Durban recently.

ZP DalaDala expressed admiration for Rushdie’s “literary style” and was subsequently attacked the next day, hit in the face with a brick and called “Rushdie’s bitch” by a group of men.

Rushdie himself responded on Twitter at the time, coming out in support of Dala.

Now, according to PEN America, the shocking news has come about that Dala has been put under “extreme pressure” by members of the Muslim community in Durban to “renounce her statement about Rushdie’s work” and “to make a public vow of religious loyalty to Islam”.

When she refused, she was apparently admitted to a mental institution.

PEN America has called for Dala’s “immediate and unconditional release” and has also called on President Jacob Zuma and the South African Authorities to “ensure Ms Dala’s safety and to prevent reprisals against her freedom of expression and thought”.

PEN America executive director Suzanne Nossel, who was visiting South Africa and had contact with Dala, says in a statement: “Harassment, efforts to elicit forced and false confessions, and ‎the denial of liberty are gross infringements of freedom of expression. In expressing her views on Mr Rushdie’s work Ms Dala was engaging in intellectual discourse, an essential lifeblood of any free society.

“It is up to South African authorities and all those in positions of leadership to vindicate her rights and freedoms and take action against those who have sought to deny them.”

Books LIVE is attempting to get in touch with Dala to corroborate the story.

Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, PEN South Africa president Margie Orford, and others have expressed outrage on Twitter.

Because of the injuries and trauma she suffered, Dala was forced to postpone the launch of her debut novel, What About Meera, which had been scheduled for the Time of the Writer Festival.

Aletheia

It's a shame this society isn't as free as they think it is. If it were, her attackers would've been caught and punished accordingly, and she certainly wouldn't be sent to a mental institution because of her religious views or lack thereof. Seriously, all this boils down to is someone didn't like what another person had to say. In a free society you will hear things you may not like and your words have consequences, but people normally are not injured or killed for such difference of opinions.

I can't help but to think of "Lord of the Flies" whenever I read such ridiculous things.
Quote from: Jakenessif you believe in the supernatural, you do not understand modern science. Period.

Valigarmander

http://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/english-pen-concerned-for-well-being-of-south-african-novelist-z-p-dala/
QuoteEnglish PEN is gravely alarmed to hear that South African novelist Zainub Priya Dala has been admitted to a mental institution in Durban, South Africa. Dala is also a psychologist and a physiotherapist specialising in autism.

In March, at a literary event at a school, she praised the works of Salman Rushdie. A day later, three men accosted her when she was in her car, placed a knife at her throat and hit her face with a brick. She was addressed as ‘Rushdie’s Bitch.’ She believes that if a minibus taxi had not pulled into the vacant lot that she would have been stabbed.

Dala has since been under pressure from members of  Durban’s Muslim community to recant and repent.She has now been sent to a mental institution â€" St Joseph’s. She has no access to laptops, only has use of her mobile and is unable  to write.

ZP Dala says:
‘I’ve been … drugged till I can barely walk … and basically broken down into a submission where I will follow the straight path (if there is one). I feel that the far-reaching damage to my kids will be severe as they attend schools that are 90% Muslim.  And I refuse to educate them with fire and brimstone stories about how they may go to heaven but their beloved grandmother will burn in hellfire. That’s what they are teaching the kids now anyway. I have also been harangued to withdraw, dissect, explain and renounce my admiration of [Rushdie’s] works. I could just as easily burn my Oscar Wilde collection because some homophobes came calling. I can’t turn back now and pretend I never admired his writing. I would look like a fool.’

English PEN calls for Dala’s immediate release and for the campaign of intimidation against her to cease. ‘The repercussions of her public statement of support for Salman Rushdie should appal anyone who cares about freedom of expression in South Africa,’ said English PEN director Jo Glanville. ‘That this assault has been followed by pressure from Dala’s own community, leading to her detention in a mental institution, is not treatment that any of us would expect to see in an open society.’

Solitary

As crazy as this is, it doesn't even come close to Baca  Haram.  They kill anything that moves on two legs.  :eek: :wall:
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.