Barack Obama Buys Salman Rushdie's Latest Book, Author Takes a Dig

New Delhi: US President Barack Obama's purchase of author Salman Rushdie's latest volume caused a stir on Twitter today as the author asked if there was a reason for Mr Obama choosing a volume "not related" to Ayatollah Khomeini.

Mr Obama had made a visit to a local bookstore with daughters Sasha and Malia to buy nine books, one of which was Mr Rushdie's "Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights," published in September.

As the media reported the event and a section of fans interpreted it as a show of the US President's support to Mr Rushdie over the Iranian leader's fatwa on him, the author tweeted:
 

Would it be wrong to think that there might be a reason for buying my book that is not related to Khomeini? https://t.co/2VZ7YKjVLm

- Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) November 28, 2015

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights" -- a modern version of the Tales of a 1001 nights -- is a medley of stories and characters like the original version. A fantasy, it deals with the choices people have to make and their consequences.

The volume is very different from the Satanic Verses by the same author, which had earned him death threats from Muslim hardliners.

Replies poured in, with many saying buying a book does not have to be a political statement, even for the President of the United States.
 

@SalmanRushdie @JeffreyGoldberg Heaven forbid the man just wants to read a story by one of the greatest writers of our time... -__-

- Jamie Grove (@jamiegrove) November 28, 2015

 

No @SalmanRushdie it would not be wrong. I imagine Obama bought it because it is a wonderful read.

- Margie Orford (@MargieOrford) November 28, 2015

 

@SalmanRushdie Let's call Obama's purchase an aesthetic/political "win-win"!

- JonathanSalemWiseman (@jsalemwiseman) November 28, 2015

Earlier today, Mr Rushdie took a dig at former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who had  termed the ban on "Satanic Verses" as "wrong". The author tweeted to say, "This admission just took 27 years. How many more before the "mistake" is corrected?"

Mr Chidambaram was Minister of State Home Affairs when the ban was imposed in October 1988. But on Saturday, the former minister said at the Times LitFest  that he had "no hesitation in saying that the ban on Salman Rushdie's book was wrong".

After the "Satanic Verses" in 1988, Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa on Mr Rushdie, calling for his death, forcing the author to go into exile.