Melbourne
(ANI):
A
Victorian
MP
has
said
that
singer
and
songwriter
Yusuf
Islam
formerly
known
as
Cat
Stevens,
should
be
denied
visa
unless
he
retracts
his
threats
against
author
Salman
Rushdie.
“He
said
that
Salman
Rushdie
should
be
killed," The
Herald
Sun
quoted
the
Democratic
Labor
Party
MP,
Peter
Kavanagh
as
saying.
“He
later
said
that
he
was
just
expressing
the
Islamic
law,
not
his
own
views.
He
said
he
would
like
to
see
Salman
Rushdie
burned,
and
not
just
an
effigy
of
him.
If
Australia
stands
for
anything,
we
stand
for
freedom
of
expression
and
democracy
and
the
peaceful
resolution
of
differences," Kavanagh
said.
"If
someone
wants
to
come
here
and
make
a
lot
of
money,
like
Mr
Yusuf
does,
then
they
should
be
required
to
denounce
threats
against
people
on
the
basis
of
their
opinion,"
he
added.
Yusuf
has
denied
the
charges
and
supporting
the
fatwa
against
The
Satanic
Verses
author
issued
by
Iran's
Ayatollah
Khomeini
in
1989.