Delhi fails to find court order, ban on Rushdie's ‘Satanic Verses’ lifted

Today's news: pro-Palestinian attacks on Israeli fans in Amsterdam; China sentences a senior official accused of espionage to death; Iran and Pakistan promise cooperation against Balkan militiamen; Korean President Yoon apologises on TV for scandals involving his wife.

INDIA

India's ban on importing Salman Rushdie's book ‘Satanic Verses’, which had been in place for more than 30 years, was effectively lifted by the Delhi High Court after the government was unable to produce the original notification imposing the ban. The measure had been triggered in 1988 after some Muslims denounced it as blasphemous. In a lawsuit filed in 2019 by a prospective importer of the book, the Indian government informed that the ban order ‘was not traceable and, therefore, could not be produced’. As a result, the court stated that it had ‘no choice but to assume that such notification does not exist’ and therefore lifted the ban.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE-HOLLAND

Israeli fan groups were the target of apparently organised and widespread attacks in Amsterdam tonight after the football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Ten Israelis were hospitalised and three lost contact with each other following the violence, apparently perpetrated by local Muslims and Arabs shouting ‘Free Palestine’. Other supporters were reportedly locked in their hotels in fear of being attacked again on their way to the airport for their return flights.

CHINA

A former senior Chinese government official has been sentenced to death for revealing state secrets to a foreign power. This was announced in a post on WeChat by the Ministry of State Security, which identified him as Zhang without specifying details of his role in the administration. No details were given on the date of execution. China keeps its statistics on the application of the death penalty secret. Amnesty International estimates that thousands of death sentences are carried out in the country each year.

SOUTH KOREA

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has publicly apologised for causing concern to the people as controversy in the country has grown again over first lady Kim Keon Hee, at the centre of accusations of accepting a luxury handbag as a gift, financial transactions and involvement in government affairs. Yoon stood up and bowed his head in apology during a televised speech. The press conference was held at a time when his approval rating fell below the 20% mark.

IRAN-PAKISTAN

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the end of a visit to Islamabad that ‘good agreements’ had been reached with senior Pakistani officials on the fight against ‘terrorists’ along their shared border. In the south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan clashes between independence militant groups and Iranian security forces are on the rise. Araghchi also accused the Baluchi militants of links between their insurgency and Israeli attacks.

RUSSIA

The president of the Russian Caucasian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said there is a serious labour shortage problem in the region, between those who go to war and those who emigrate, while there are vacancies on construction sites with salaries of 80,000 roubles (800 euro), lashing out at the many compatriots who ‘indulge in idleness’.

KYRGYZSTAN

The summit of the Organisation of Turkic States on the theme of ‘Strengthening the Turkic World, Economic Integration and Future Prospects’ was held in Biškek. It was attended by the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and also by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who was presented with the Higher Order of the Turkic World for his ‘great contribution to the consolidation of the unity of the Turkic world’.

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