Was the Government really making a point about free speech?

Nick Cohen, in the Observer, remarked on the shift in government policy towards extremists, from engagement and appeasement to “principled politics”. “Across the political spectrum, the ignorant and the terrified are arguing that if only Britain didn't provoke the zealots in Pakistan and Iran - and, indeed, in Sparkbrook and Tower Hamlets - by defending liberal values and honouring a great writer, their fury would pass and we would be safe.

"In theory, they may have a case. We all appease in our daily lives and make concessions in order to get concessions in return. In practice, the Labour government has tested appeasement to destruction and, thankfully, turned back to principled politics ...

"Government policy is now to support British Muslims who uphold liberal values and oppose those who do not. Rushdie's knighthood was a sign of the changing mood. Labour politicians might have tried to impose a veto a few years ago; instead, they said: 'Are we going to allow British policy to be decided by dictatorial bigots, who want to inflame religious passion to divert attention from their own corruption?”

Muslim world inflamed by knighthood

A Pakistani minister said that Salman Rushdie's knighthood justified suicide bombings

• British minister: 'We stand by Rushdie knighthood'

BACKGROUND

• Honour Bound

• Suicide bomb threat over Rushdie knighthood

• Britain responds in Rushdie row

• Rushdie knighthood reignites the debate

• Troubled honour

Mike Hume in The Times agrees that it looks like a political stunt. But, "In which case, why knight him and not Bernard Manning? None, after all, has been more consistent than the late Bernard in upholding the right to offend prevailing opinions, or entertained more people in the process. Indeed, Rushdie and Manning had more in common than either might have liked to admit. Each has played the role of Aunt Sally against whom others can demonstrate their righteousness. As Rushdie attracts the manufactured outrage of Islamists who have never read his books, so Manning became the cartoon bogeyman of illiberal liberals who never saw his act."

Do Muslims have a right to be offended?

The Muslim Weekly editorial said the honour would do nothing for the strained relations between the Muslim community and the Government and “will be taken as a slap in the face ... The claim that Rushdie’s knighthood was in honour for services to literature must also include The Satanic Verses, which Britain defended as an expression of free speech.”

The Middle East Times, in its summary of Arab Editorials, quotes the London based Palastinian paper, Al Quds Al Arabi: the decision makers "were either naïve or stupid, or had just wanted to provoke Muslims worldwide ... The British government has every right and the sovereignty to choose whom to honor," it said, "but there are hundreds from the Muslim community in Britain who greatly served this country in the fields of science and economy that deserve to be honored more than Salman Rushdie, who has only brought the country troubles and problems from most Muslim nations."

Dr Shaaz Mahboob from Hillingdon Middlesex wrote in a letter to The Times: “As a Muslim who does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by Salman Rushdie through his literary works, I would like to remind my co-religionists that the inclusion of Rushdie in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list is a British domestic issue. Moreover, one of the main reasons for conferring this title has been his contribution to the literary world, especially his work Midnight's Children, not specifically for The Satanic Verses.

Freedom of expression comes with a heavy price, allowing Rushdie the right to express his views, no matter how insensitive towards Islam or other religions they may be. Any incitement to violence in the name of religion must be countered effectively by the authorities and the moderate Muslim leadership in Britain and abroad.”

Did the Government anticipate a row?

Dominic Lawson of The Independent says not: "The arts and media honours subcommittee, which recommended a knighthood for the author of Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses, has been ridiculed for not anticipating the anti-British demonstrations which the award to Salman Rushdie has allowed politicians to foment in countries such as Pakistan and Iran. It is certainly peculiar that they did not expect such a reaction - and I have it first-hand that they didn't - but it is also, in its way, admirable. After all, these people have been charged with making recommendations based on the talent and artistic contribution of nominees, not on what might be acceptable to Muslim politicians either here or overseas.”