Rushdie spreads message of free speech, need for change in US

By: Chelsea Good

Author Salman Rushdie opened his presentation Monday evening in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium by encouraging audience members to get out and vote in the upcoming presidential election.

“Please vote for the right candidate on November 4th,” said Rushdie, “because I can’t.” Rushdie resides in New York but is not a US citizen.

Much of Rushdie’s message was political. He told students, faculty, and community members who packed the auditorium to hear him speak that the power of our enemies has been exaggerated to create a politics of fear in this country.

To those in other countries, “America is shorthand for American power in the world,” said Rushdie.

Sir Rushdie, who was knighted in 2007 for his service to literature, also discussed his career, especially the controversy that surrounded the book for which he is most known.

Rushdie’s 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses” sparked widespread controversy and was banned in several countries because of references to the Koran deemed blasphemous by religious leaders.

Rushdie himself was forced into hiding for several years because of threats on his life and attacks on people associated with the publishing of “The Satanic Verses”.

These experiences have led Rushdie to speak out and spread the message of free speech.
"It is wrong to dictate to artists the imagination of where they should go," said Rushdie.

Rushdie said that he only came to terms with the backlash from his book when he realized that none of us are ever truly safe. “There is no such thing as security,” said Rushdie. “Only levels of insecurity.”

Those that attended Rushdie’s talk had different ideas about the author before hearing him speak and many were surprised by at the subject matter of his presentation.

“I though it was going to be different,” said CMU senior Stephanie Faubel. “I thought he would talk more about his life journey and how he ended up living in New York. It was interesting and he was funny. You can definitely tell he is a democrat!”


Rushdie challenged audience members to expand their ways of thinking. “Broadmindedness is tolerance,” he said. “Open-mindedness is symbolic of peace.”