Rushdie's Satanic Verses Selling in India After 36 Years

Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses is being sold again in his native India nearly four decades after it was banned, reports the Times of India. A court lifted the ban put in place in 1988 for an unusual reason, notes the Guardian: "lost paperwork." It seems that nobody can locate the actual decree that outlawed the book, leading Delhi's high court to declare, "We have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists." No decree means no ban. Major New Delhi bookseller Bahrison's announced it had the book in stock, and a manager tells the Guardian it was "selling out."

The book is inspired by the life of the prophet Muhammad, and its release prompted Iran to declare it blasphemous and issue a fatwa on Rushdie's life. The author spent years in hiding before resuming a more public life. But the fatwa remains in effect, a fact made clear when an attacker stabbed Rushdie at a book event two years ago, causing the author to lose an eye. (More Salman Rushdie stories.)