William Nygaard Association from 1987 to 1990. On 12 April 1989 Aschehoug and William Nygaard were responsible for publishing the Norwegian edition of Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses". This was two months after Ayatollah Khomeini issued the following fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his publishers: Owing to the fatwa, direct threats were made against William Nygaard and translator Kari Risvik, and in the resulting controversy, Nygaard was given police protection for a period. On the morning of 11 October 1993, Nygaard was shot three times outside his home in Dagaliveien in Oslo. Most people — including Nygaard — link the incident
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie the knighthood was seen as a "'provocative act' which angered one and a half billion Muslims worldwide." Adams insisted that "the honour was given for Rushdie's services for literature and should therefore not be regarded as insult." Also on the 19th, Mohammad Reza Bahonar vice speaker of the Majlis of Iran, told the nation's parliament that the knighthood "has hurt the feelings of more than 1.5 billion Muslims" and that "Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action. The action by the British queen in knighting Salman Rushdie, the apostate, is an unwise