(Views and News from Norway) Abid Raja has long been an outspoken, controversial but popular politician for Norway’s Liberal Party (Venstre). Now he’s under special protection by Norway’s domestic intelligence agency PST, after being threatened during a presentation of his latest book that once again challenges honour and fear in the Muslim culture.
Raja, a former culture minister in Norway’s former Conservatives-led government, grew up in Oslo as the son of immigrants from Pakistan. He later studied law and went into politics as a liberal Muslim, eventually becoming a government minister in charge of culture and sports, and a vice-president of the Norwegian Parliament.
He also started writing. His earlier book Min skyld (My Fault) revealed domestic violence in his childhood home with an abusive father and a tradition of arranged marriages that Raja ultimately rebelled against.
