The Queens Birthday Honours - A contrast

Two of the people honoured in the Queens Birthday Honours made me think. Salmon Rushdie's Knighthood provoked the expected reports of threats from Pakistan and from Iran. Shami Chakrabarti (the media friendly) head of Liberty received a CBE and is reported to have said that she regarded the award as an invitation to keep fighting for civil liberties.

Do you think Shami Chakrabati will defend Salmon Rushdie's civil liberties as the new death threats start?

Here's what Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, Pakistan's religious affairs minister, had to say about Salman Rushdie's knighthood - "The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the ‘sir’ title,". How lovely, in the eyes of a minister in Pakistan's government, Salman Rushdie's knighthood excuses suicide bombing in the UK. Could his comments be seen as incitement?