Standing by Rights

THE unprecedented international furor surrounding the fictional novel The Satanic Verses still rages, more than a week after Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini first called for the death of its British author Salman Rushdie, promising Paradise to his murderer. This controversy has put to test some of our most valued beliefs, including the sanctity of human life and of our rights to free speech.

In the West, the Ayatollah's terrorist threats have generated virtually universal outrage. The twelve nations of the European Community have severed high-level diplomatic ties with Iran and have warned that economic sanctions may follow if Rushdie is harmed. However, President Bush issued only a weak statement condemning Khomeini at a press conference more than a week after the controversy began. And authors, librarians and scholars have only recently voiced their solidarity with Rushdie, who has gone into hiding.

Resentment toward the novel and its Bombay-born writer has been building among Muslims for several months, and at least 15 persons have died in violent riots in India and Pakistan, where the book has been banned since its publication several months ago. Many Muslims believe that it defames both the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed and that it portrays the twelve wives of the Prophet as prostitutes.

RUSHDIE'S book has deeply offended many Muslims, and we respect the depth of their beliefs and the sincerity of their protests. But no amount of moral revulsion justifies the banning of a book or the killing of its writer.

In light of the recent events and Iran's past pattern of erratic behavior, the U.S. should reevaluate its policy of attempting to normalize relations with Iran. It is clear that as long as Khomeini remains the undisputed leader of Iran, "moderates" will wield little influence. The fact that the leader of an entire nation would repeatedly issue a threat against a single individual proves the instability of Khomeini and his lack of understanding of the sanctity of human life. In the present poisoned climate, normality seems impossible.

The Rushdie affair also reminds us that the hard-won emancipation of the human mind from those who would enslave it, now often taken for granted in the West, is more precious and more fragile than we would like to believe. The decision last week by some U.S. booksellers, including B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and Barnes & Noble, to remove The Satanic Verses from store displays and shelves can only encourage future acts of intellectual terrorism. They have agreed to put the book back on the shelves, but their initial response is still disturbing.

In addition, The Satanic Verses publisher Viking Penguin has said that it would arrange not to publish a paperback version of the book if such a move would end the controversy and death threats that have arisen. We would strongly object to this type of agreement, which would jeopardize the future of Rushdie's novel. The human mind must not be held hostage.

But the blame for the booksellers' decision to take the book off their shelves must be shared by the U.S. government. In the face of such a slow official reaction to the Khomeini threats, booksellers clearly felt that they had no choice.

As Americans and as members of an academic community, we have the privilege of a long tradition of free speech and individual liberty. The abridgement of these rights by those booksellers who fail to uphold the very principles from which they profit is troubling. We applaud those stores with the courage to stand by the American people's right to read what they want to read and to judge for themselves what they believe.