Rushdie Deaths

In the Books & Readings section of the November Rake, the columnist discussing Salman Rushdie’s November 10 reading mentions “… more than fifty people around the world have been murdered because of connections to Rushdie.” I’m curious as to the columnist’s sources with regard to that statement. I find that horrifying on any number of counts.
Rick Keeney
Minneapolis

Editor’s note: This figure includes deaths of both Rushdie supporters and protesters. Since his book The Satanic Verses was first published in 1988, Rushdie-related killings have included: five Pakistani demonstrators (1989), a Muslim leader and his deputy in Belgium (1989), twelve protesters in Bombay from police gunfire (1989), Rushdie’s Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi (1991), and 37 from a hotel fire in Turkey to protest Rushdie’s Turkish translator (1993).