Salman Rushdie condemned for telling parody Twitter account holder @RushdieExplains to stop using his name because 'the joke has worn thin' 

  • Rusdie demanded the @RushdieExplains account change its Twitter name
  • Said he was 'tired' of the account's messages being ascribed to him
  • Account owner Rohit Chopra immediately changed the popular handle
  • But Chopra's 30,000 followers were not so accommodating, accusing Rushdie of lacking a sense of humour and clamping down on free speech

By John Hall for MailOnline

Published: 09:38 EST, 17 July 2015 | Updated: 12:39 EST, 17 July 2015

Sir Salman Rushdie has been condemned by Indian Twitter users after he ordered a popular parody account to stop using his name because he felt 'the joke has worn thin'.

The author sent a public message to the India-based @RushdieExplains account insisting that the owner stops engaging in political debates that could be mistaken for his own personal views.

In a civil exchange, the account's owner Rohit Chopra immediately apologised and changed the handle - a move that prompted disappointment and anger among @RushdieExplains' 30,000 followers who accused the author of lacking a sense of humour and cracking down on free speech.

Criticised: Sir Salman Rushdie has been condemned by Indian Twitter users after he ordered a popular parody account to stop using his name because he felt 'the joke has worn thin'

Criticised: Sir Salman Rushdie has been condemned by Indian Twitter users after he ordered a popular parody account to stop using his name because he felt 'the joke has worn thin'

Order: Sir Salman Rushdie sent a public message to the India-based @RushdieExplains account insisting that the owner stops engaging in political debates that could be mistaken for his own personal views

Order: Sir Salman Rushdie sent a public message to the India-based @RushdieExplains account insisting that the owner stops engaging in political debates that could be mistaken for his own personal views

The @RushdieExplains account had proven a great hit with Indian Twitter users, who enjoyed the way Chopra engaged in political debates with right wing commentators.

In the vast majority of the debates, Chopra adopted a 'Rushdie-style persona', which on occasion has been mistaken for the controversial author himself.

Tired of the confusion, the real Rushdie took to Twitter earlier this week to confront the @RushdieExplains account.

'Dear @RushdieExplains, the joke has worn thin. I'm tired of having your opinions ascribed to me. Pls tweet under your own name. Thanks,' he wrote. 

Within minutes Twitter users began pleading with him not to enforce the change, with Bombay-based Simin Patel pleading: 'Mr. Rushdie this is a shame. Let the account live under your name.'

Another user named Seema Goswami added: 'That would be a pity! @RushdieExplains is soooo funny!!'

Within minutes Twitter users began pleading with him not to enforce the change, with Bombay-based Simin Patel pleading: 'Mr. Rushdie this is a shame. Let the account live under your name'

Within minutes Twitter users began pleading with him not to enforce the change, with Bombay-based Simin Patel pleading: 'Mr. Rushdie this is a shame. Let the account live under your name'

Another user named Seema Goswami added: 'That would be a pity! @RushdieExplains is soooo funny!!'

Another user named Seema Goswami added: 'That would be a pity! @RushdieExplains is soooo funny!!'

Despite the pleas of his 30,000 Twitter followers, Chopra quickly backed down over the handle, changing his name to @IndiaExplained and promising to deliver a 'satirical and political commentary on India', albeit one totally disconnected from the Rushdie-esque persona.

Speaking after the change, Chopra told Scroll.in: 'It gave me a chance to pay homage to Rushdie and other writers while being able to reflect and comment on things that matter to me.'

Hours later the real Rushdie returned to thank Chopra for making the change, 'Thank you, @RushdieExplains. I appreciate the swift response. All the best.'

In a civil exchange, the account's owner Rohit Chopra immediately apologised and changed the handle - a move that prompted disappointment and anger among @RushdieExplains' 30,000 followers

In a civil exchange, the account's owner Rohit Chopra immediately apologised and changed the handle - a move that prompted disappointment and anger among @RushdieExplains' 30,000 followers

Returning days later, perhaps in response to criticism accusing him of lacking a sense of humour and trying to clamp down on freedom of expression, Rushdie added: 'In my view @IndiaExplained is a fine handle, better than the one before, and I look forward to continuing to follow.'

A clearly starstruck Chopra replied: 'Wow! Thank you @SalmanRushdie I'm rarely short of words but this leaves me speechless. Extraordinarily kind of you.' 

It is not the first time a parody Twitter account has caused controversy in India.

Fatwa: Rushdie became a household name when, on February 14, 1989, Iran's Islmaic leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called on Muslims to murder him

Fatwa: Rushdie became a household name when, on February 14, 1989, Iran's Islmaic leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called on Muslims to murder him

During one notorious recent instance, the office of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded a parody account using the handle @PM0India be shut down because the 'objectionable content' it posted could have 'serious ramifications' is users mistook it for an official account, according to BBC News.

Rushdie became a household name when, on February 14, 1989, Iran's Islmaic leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called on Muslims to murder him over the publication of his apparently 'blasphemous' fourth novel titled Satanic Verses.

The title refers to the so-called 'satanic verses', a group of alleged Qur'anic verses that allow intercessory prayers to be made to three Pagan Meccan goddesses.

The book's publication in 1988 sparked a wave of protest and condemnation from Muslims who accused it of blasphemy and mocking their faith. The following year, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, calling for Rushdie's death. 

The religious ruling forced the award-winning writer into hiding, and Britain's ties with the Islamic republic were severely damaged.

Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator, was stabbed to death in the face at work, a Norwegian publisher shot and an Italian publisher knifed.

Thousands took to the streets to burn copies of the book and thirty-seven people were massacred in Sivas, Turkey, in a 1993 attack intended to target Aziz Nesin, the book's Turkish translator. 

Although moren than two decades later Rushdie has emerged from hiding and is regularly seen at public events, the Iranian clergy last February revived the fatwa.

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