Knighthood of Salman Rushdie All other aspects were for the main committee to examine. The British Foreign Office, which has a permanent secretary on the main committee, announced that there had been no requests to gauge possible Muslim reaction to the knighthood. It was noted that Rushdie's 13 books have won numerous awards, including the Booker Prize for "Midnight's Children" in 1981, the Booker of Bookers prize, the Whitbread novel award (twice), and the James Tait Black memorial prize. PEN International had been a constant supporter of Rushdie being honoured, believing that awarding the author (born in India) would be "seen as a positive
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie world. Conferment of a knighthood on Salman Rushdie shows an utter lack of sensitivity on the part of the British government." They also told him that Rushdie's knighthood is a breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1624, which calls on all member states to "enhance dialogue and broaden understanding...[to prevent] the indiscriminate targeting of religions and cultures". Responding to the summons Ambassador Brinkley said "that the honour was not meant to offend Muslims". He also voiced Britain's "deep concern" at the comments by Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq about suicide bombers telling them that "nothing can justify suicide