Saleem Sinai of the novel and the significance of its main character, calling "Midnight's Children" "an extraordinary literary jewel (it was awarded the Booker of Bookers in 1993, and a host of other prizes), focusing on the fates of two children that are inextricably linked by the hour of their birth, literally 'handcuffed to history'". Sinai is the product of extra-marital intercourse and is raised by a Muslim family after being exchanged at birth by his nurse, Mary Pereira. Over the course of the novel he goes from riches to rags. He has telepathic and other supernatural powers that are part of
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie has reached us and we are in the process of preparing for you a precise response". Concerning the recording the British Foreign Office stated "The Government has already made clear that Rushdie's honour was not intended as an insult to Islam or the Prophet Muhammad." Prime Minister Gordon Brown replied to the threat saying "Nothing can justify either threats to the United Kingdom or any form of terrorist activity and it must be the right of the United Kingdom to make its own decisions on all these issues." Knighthood of Salman Rushdie In mid-June 2007 Salman Rushdie, the British Indian