DELHL India: The violence in the Jammu Kashmir summer capital of Srinagar came as lawmakers in New Delhi urged the government to take action against the controversial novel.
Indian officials have banned the ‘Satanic Verses” and Indonesia announced Monday it was joining India, Jordan and several other nations with Moslem populations in banning the importation of Rushdie’s book.
But spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general’s office in Jakarta said copies of Rushdie’s
Novel already on sale would remain on store shelves pending a decision by the nations Islamic scholars on whether the book should be banned outright.
In Karachi, Pakistani police said a high intensity, 3 pound bomb exploded in the guardhouse at the British Consulate compound Sunday night, killing a security guard and damaging the building.
Police said they suspect the explosion was connected to the unrest over Rushdie’s book, which is considered blasphemous by Moslems and has sparked violence and demonstrations in several countries. At least 17 people have died in protests in India and Pakistan, which are among the nations that have banned the book.
A contingent of police confronted a crowd of demonstrators in the Budshah Chowk sector of the city, 400 miles north of New Delhi, and a bomb was hurled at the officers.
The device exploded, killing a 27 year old resident and wounding seven other people, including three police officers and two news photographers, the Press Trust said.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 3, 1989
