Mumbai-born novellist Salman Rushdie has strongly criticised the Islamist terrorists who attacked the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 people dead on Wednesday afternoon.



"Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms," Rusdie said on his Facebook page. "This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today."



The novelist is familiar with the strain of fundamentalism that resulted in the French attacks. In 1989, the Iranian cleric Ayotollah Khomeni issued a fatwa, calling for Rushdie to be killed for "blaspheming against Islam" in his novel, The Satanic Verses. The threat hung over him for almost a decade.



Reacting to the Paris killings, Rushdie said, "I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity."



He added, "'Respect for religion' has become a code phrase meaning 'fear of religion.' Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect."



