by Irfan Husain
Nearly two decades have passed since the appearance of The Satanic Verses, and an entire generation has grown up without any idea of what the fuss is all about. The book has been banned in Pakistan for all this time, not that too many people read it when it first appeared, despite its presence on the bestseller list for months. In fact, one of the curious facts about The Satanic Verses is that none of those burning copies in Birmingham and Bombay in 1989 had read it; but neither had most of those defending Rushdie. One critic wrote that this was the most sold, least read book in his lifetime.
