Salman Rushdie September 2012. Joseph Anton was Rushdie's secret alias. In February 1997, Ayatollah Hasan Sane'i, leader of the bonyad panzdah-e khordad (Fifteenth of Khordad Foundation), reported that the blood money offered by the foundation for the assassination of Rushdie would be increased from $2 million to $2.5 million. Then a semi-official religious foundation in Iran increased the reward it had offered for the killing of Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million. In November 2015, former Indian minister P. Chidambaram acknowledged that banning "The Satanic Verses" was wrong. In 1998, Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami proclaimed the fatwa “finished”; but it
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie more, the sovereign's choice of who she wishes to honour will never be the subject of intimidation." Tessa Jowell who was Culture Secretary at the time of the knighthood's announcement told reporters that "Salman Rushdie was recognised in the recent honours as one of this country's outstanding writers. In times when terrorist threats beset the way of life in this country and the way of life in this country is being attacked by terrorists, standing up for free speech and freedom of speech is ever more important." On 22 June 2007 dozens of British Muslims (some with scarves masking their