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 British products. On 22 June 2007 thousands of Pakistanis took part in protests led by the radical MMA Parliamentary alliance at the conclusion of prayer services. Friday protestors in Islamabad numbered around 300, they chanted "Death to blasphemer Rushdie! Death to Britain!" and "Our struggle will continue until Salman Rushdie is killed!" The crowd was addressed by parliamentary opposition leader (and noted supporter of the Taliban) cleric Fazalur Rehman who told them that "Britain must withdraw the knighthood and hand Rushdie to Pakistan to be punished under Islamic laws." Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal Fazal ur Rehman a member of the parliamentary religious