TV – The Fatwa: Salman’s Story

Wednesday 19 September, 10.35pm

BBC ONE

Salman Rushdie was condemned to death in 1989 after his book, The Satanic Verses, caused irreparable controversy within the Muslim community for its perceived blasphemous content. 

Following riots in Pakistan, the Supreme Leader of Iran called on all Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers, which lead to the deaths of one of Rushdie’s translators, the attempted assassination of another and his publisher and The Sivas Massacre, which saw 37 people killed in an attempt to harm the Turkish translator of the book.

To coincide with Rushdie’s long awaited memoir, Joseph Anton: A Memoir, named after the pseudonym he adopted while living in hiding, Alan Yentob has been given unprecedented access to the controversial author, his close friends and family, the publisher who nearly died for him and his protection officers, who speak openly for the first time about the terrifying decade Rushdie spent sheltering himself and his young son from the bounty on his head.