‘We didn’t misquote Imran’: Guardian editor on Rushdie remarks

We stand absolutely by our reporting of the interview, says Julian Borger in a Twitter post

British daily The Guardian's world affairs editor Julian Borger has said the publication did not misquote former prime minister Imran Khan after the PTI chief claimed that the British newspaper had taken his remarks over an attack on author Salman Rushdie 'out of context'.

In an interview with the renowned newspaper last week, the former premier condemned the knife attack on Rushdie, claiming that the anger of Muslims against the author was understandable but it didn't justify the attack.

However, the official Twitter account for the PTI, later said that Imran’s statement was “taken out of context”, and that he had refused to attend a seminar in India because Rushdie was also invited.

دی گارڈین نے میری گفتگو سیاق و سباق سے ہٹ کر پیش کی۔ میں نے بھارت میں ملعون سلمان رشدی کو مدعو کرنے پر سیمینار میں شرکت سے انکار کیا۔ انٹرویو میں، میں نے گستاخ رسولﷺ کو سزا دینے کے اسلامی طریقہ کار کی وضاحت کی۔ سانحہ سیالکوٹ کا حوالہ دیا، اسی تناظر میں رشدی کی بات کی۔

عمران خان pic.twitter.com/ioG7dlTNZX

— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 19, 2022

“In the interview, I explained the Islamic method of punishing blasphemers,” Imran said.

The PTI chief maintained that he had given the example of the Sialkot tragedy and had spoken of Rushdie in a similar context. Imran was referring to the brutal lynching of a Sri Lankan man in Sialkot over blasphemy allegations.

Read more: ‘Imran says remarks on Rushdie taken out of context’

"We did not misquote Imran Khan. We stand absolutely by our reporting of the interview," Borger said in response to a Twitter user who sought clarity on the matter.

We did not misquote Imran Khan. We stand absolutely by our reporting of the interview. Khan himself is not saying we misquoted him, only that we took his remarks out of context, but we provided the context, as you can see in the story.

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) August 20, 2022

"Khan himself is not saying we misquoted him, only that we took his remarks out of context, but we provided the context, as you can see in the story," he added.

Last week, Rushdie sustained severe injuries in an attack, including nerve damage in his arm, wounds to his liver, and the likely loss of an eye, his agent said. But his condition has been improving since the weekend, and he had been taken off the ventilator.