{"id":8464,"date":"2017-03-04T14:05:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T14:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/indian-muslim-leader-syed-shahabuddin-dies-aged-82\/"},"modified":"2017-03-04T14:05:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T14:05:25","slug":"indian-muslim-leader-syed-shahabuddin-dies-aged-82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/indian-muslim-leader-syed-shahabuddin-dies-aged-82\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Muslim leader Syed Shahabuddin dies aged 82"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Assembled Indian Muslims bury Syed Shahabuddin, wrapped in a shroud, in New Delhi on March 4, 2017\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/161F\/production\/_94936650_gettyimages-647744498.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      Syed Shahabuddin is buried in New Delhi following a prolonged illness                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">Indian politician Syed Shahabuddin, an influential political figure for minority Indian Muslims, has died aged 82.<\/p>\n<p>The former diplomat was known for opposing the controversial demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque.<\/p>\n<p>He served as an MP for three terms between 1979 and 1996, and also successfully campaigned to ban Salman Rushdie&#039;s novel The Satanic Verses.<\/p>\n<p>He died in hospital following a prolonged illness, local media said.<\/p>\n<p>Syed Shahabuddin previously worked as an Indian Foreign Service officer and also led the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat - the country&#039;s top-level forum for Muslim organisations.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Shahabuddin was also the head of the Babri Action Committee, an organisation dedicated to the preservation of a 16th Century mosque in Ayodhya.<\/p>\n<p>The contested ownership of the site and its eventual demolition created national tension between Hindus and Muslims, resulting in the 1992 riots in which 2,000 people died. The site remains a flashpoint today.<\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      Mourners gathered to offer prayers for the Muslim political leader                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He also came to international attention for his efforts to ban The Satanic Verses, whose publication in 1988 outraged Muslims around the world, with many arguing it was blasphemous.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Shahabuddin was widely seen as responsible for preventing the book from being imported into India - the first country to introduce such a ban.<\/p>\n<p>The book is comprised of three stories woven together. One of them - the most controversial - features a prophet named Mahound, who founds a religion in the desert. <\/p>\n<p>That story is inspired by an apocryphal incident in the life of the Prophet Muhammad, called the Satanic Verses.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Image caption                                      India was the first to ban the novel, but protests spread through Pakistan, Iran, and the UK - seen here                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It references verses of the Koran which the Prophet Muhammad later retracted as incorrect - and blamed on the prompting of Satan.<\/p>\n<p>The issue is a controversial one for scholars and religious teachers.<\/p>\n<p>Following the controversy over Rushdie&#039;s novel, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill the author.<\/p>\n<p>The book is still banned in India.<\/p>\n<p><a rel='nofollow' href=http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-india-39166740 target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption Syed Shahabuddin is buried in New Delhi following a prolonged illness Indian politician Syed Shahabuddin, an influential political figure for minority Indian Muslims, has died<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}