Lord Ahmed is at it again. The man who is happy to cavort with a virulent antisemite, giving Israel Shamir a platform in the House of Lords, has now waded in to the Sir Salman Rushdie controversy:
Labour Lord Ahmed, 48, said Verses triggered “violence around the world”.
...Lord Ahmed added: “Honouring a man who has blood on his hands goes too far.”
He told BBC Radio 4: “Two weeks ago the Prime Minister was calling for building relations between the Muslim world and Britain, then suddenly this knighthood is given to a man who has not only been abusive to Muslims but also to Christians — because he used abusive language towards Jesus Christ.”
He went on: “This man not only provoked violence around the world because of his writings, but there were many people who were killed around the world.”
What a revealing piece of logic. Sair Salman wrote a book. That's all. It didn't instruct anyone to do anything. It didn't recommend anyone do anything.
The inspiration for violence - no, not the inspiration, but the command - came from Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwah. Not one jot of responsibility for any violence with Sir Salman.
BTW, this is no laughing matter but the Sun's headline is inspired:
Pakistan orders smoked Salman