Salman Rushdie, 75, was stabbed in the neck and torso at the Chautauqua Institution in New York while he was mounting the dais to deliver a speech.
New Delhi: Days after the August 12 attack on celebrated author Salman Rushdie, India on Thursday condemned the “horrific attack” and wished him a speedy recovery.
In his weekly brief, spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Arindam Bagchi said, “India has always stood against violence and extremism. We condemn the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
Seventy-five-year-old Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and torso at the Chautauqua Institution in New York while he was mounting the dais to deliver a speech.
A couple of days after he was stabbed, Rushdie was taken off the ventilator. Rushdie, however, will stay at hospital for further treatment. After several hours of operation, the doctors had on Saturday last put author Salman Rushdie on ventilator, said the author’s book agent. However, he added, Rushdie may lose an eye.
Rushdie, 75, was stabbed multiple times on stage ahead of a lecture. The attack has left his veins in his arms severely damaged. The attacker, identified as Hadi Matar (24), also damaged Rushdie’s liver when he attacked his torso.
According to Associated Press, one of its reporters saw a man “storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced”. While the author fell to the ground, the man was restrained, said AP.
Salman Rushdie’s book ‘The Satanic Verses’ was banned in Iran since 1988 as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. Around a year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or an edict, advocating Rushdie’s death.
A whopping $3 million was announced as a bounty for anyone who kills Rushdie. The Iranian government has for a long time distanced itself from Khomeini’s fatwa. A semi-Iranian religious foundation in 2012 raised the bounty to $3.3 million from $2.8 million.
