Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy, a civil society group, on Monday opposed demands by some Muslim organisations to reinstate a ban on author Salman Rushdie’s controversial book The Satanic Verses.

The group urged Muslims to combat ideas perceived to be offensive with reasoned critique rather than calls for suppression.

In a statement issued on Monday, the group cited the example of Syed Ahmad Khan, the 19th-century reformer who resisted efforts to ban works critical of Islam. In 1861, Khan travelled to London to study the sources used by author William Muir for a disparaging book on Prophet Muhammad. Eight years later, he published a detailed rebuttal of Muir’s claims.

The group emphasised that Khan’s advice remains relevant in today’s India, where Muslims are frequent targets of hate campaigns. Reacting with demands for bans or fatwas, the group said, risks playing into the hands of those seeking to vilify the community and inadvertently boosts the visibility of the criticised material.

“In his [Khan’s] time, he staunchly opposed Muslims who made a bonfire of books they did not like, or demanded its ban by the authorities,” the statement by Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy read. “His advice was simple. Fight words with words if the book in question is worthy of a reasoned critique.”

The civil society group added: “Burning or banning such books implies that Muslims are incapable of an intellectual and moral defense of their faith. If the book…is nothing but a gratuitous, salacious or malicious attack on Islam or its Prophet, his suggestion was: ignore it.”

The group, however, drew a distinction between permissible expression and hate speech, which it said must be countered using legal provisions. The group underscored that peaceful protest and lawful redress are legitimate responses to offensive works but rejected calls to silence offenders through violent or repressive measures.

Rushdie’s 1988 novel has long been a flashpoint in debates over freedom of expression and religious sensitivities. India was one of the first countries to ban The Satanic Verses, citing concerns over communal unrest. Globally, the book has sparked outrage, with Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death in 1989.

Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy’s statement follows a Delhi High Court order earlier this year, which paved the way for importing the book into India after authorities failed to produce documentation supporting its decades-old ban.

The group’s statement was signed by 42 activists, journalists, academics and filmmakers from across India. The signatories included human rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Shabnam Hashmi, theatre and film director Feroze Abbas Khan, author and activist Ram Puniyani, scientist and poet Gauhar Raza and historian Sohail Hashmi.

Also read: The spectre of hurt religious sentiments: On the courage and necessity of Salman Rushdie