Rushdie row spreads as India wades in

THE row over Sir Salman Rushdie's knighthood has spread to India, where Muslim clerics said the honour for the controversial author reflected the "anti-Islamic" mindset of the British government.

A grouping of leading Muslim organisations, including the Islamic Centre of India, All India Sunni Board and Ulema Council, sent a joint statement condemning the decision to the British High Commission in the capital, New Delhi.

Maulana Abul Hasan, of the Ulema Council, said: "Salman Rushdie is a detested figure among Muslims. The British government has hurt Muslim feelings by honouring a person facing fatwa for blasphemous writings."

Meanwhile, Pakistan said the knighthood breached the UN resolution on fostering understanding between religions and civilisations.

A spokeswoman for Pakistan's foreign affairs ministry said the government had told the UK of concerns that it did not meet the "spirit" of the resolution.

Concerns were echoed in Tehran, where chief ayatalloah Mahmour Hashemi Shahroudi, Iran's judiciary chief, said that the UK constantly showed its hostility to Islam.

The British government has insisted the knighthood was for literary services and was not intended to offend Muslims.