Author Rushdie Angry After Sikh Play Scrapped

LONDON (Reuters) - British author Salman Rushdie, who went into hiding for years after Iran's leader ordered him killed, assailed Britain on Sunday for allowing angry Sikh groups to force the cancellation of a Sikh play last week.

A theater in Birmingham canceled the play "Behzti" (Dishonor) after angry Sikh demonstrators turned violent on Dec. 18. They were protesting against the play, which depicts sex abuse in a Sikh temple.

The play's author, Gupreet Kaur Bhatti, herself a Sikh, has gone into hiding after receiving death threats.

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"It is pretty terrible to hear government ministers expressing approval of the ban and failing to condemn the violence, when they should be supporting freedom of expression," Rushdie told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=stageNews&storyID=7179276

circumstances.

I can't wait til the world shakes the specter of fossil fuels so that we don't have to get in bed with religious fanatics.

I was just there when all of this stuff happened - the tension is mounting.