Pak Senate condemns award of knighthood to Rushdie

Islamabad, June 19 (UNI) Pakistan's Senate today strongly condemned what it called ''the blatant disregard'' shown by the British government to Muslims worldwide by granting knighthood to writer Salman Rushdie.

''Mr Rushdie had committed blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad in the book, Satanic Verses'', said a resolution unanimously adopted by the 100-member upper house.

The resolution called for creating a better understanding between people of different faiths and promoting inter-faith harmony.

''Steps such as granting knighthood to Salman Rushdie will create further hurdles in relations between the West and Islam,'' it said.

In a strongly-worded resolution, Pakistan's National Assembly yesterday condemned the knighthood title granted to Mr Rushdie by British Queen Elizabeth-II on Saturday.

Indian-born Rushdie, 59, triggered a furore in Islamic countries including Pakistan after writing the controversial book in the late 1980s. The late Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa death warrant for Mr Rushdie in 1989 for writing the book.

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner was summoned to the foreign office today to convey Pakistan's indignation over the award of granting knighthood to Mr Rushdie.

Foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam yesterday deplored the British government's decision, saying that knighting Mr Rushdie exposed London's insensitivity towards the sentiments of Muslims.

UNI