ABSTRACT
The abiding fear that Westerners seek to sap Muslim strength goes a long way to explain the heartfelt outrage to The Satanic Verses. Many Muslims agreed that Rushdie deserved punishment but not death, and a small number of individuals, intellectuals mostly, braved the dangers of fundamentalist Muslim retribution to speak out against the edict. The Iranians found little official support for their position, even in other Muslim countries. The largest number of deaths in a single incident occurred on the 24th, when rioting in the Bendi Bazaar section of south Bombay (Rushdie's home town) turned into a three-hour fracas between the police and fundamentalist Muslims. Violent demonstrations continued in the Indian subcontinent for a month after Khomeini's edict. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry's undersecretary, Nizar Ham- dun, objected to the death sentence on Rushdie and denied that Khomeini had the right to speak on behalf of the entire Muslim world.
