Written by HILLEL ITALIE and Caroline Thompson
Associated Press
MARVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie is “on the road to recovery,” his agent has confirmed, two days after the author of “Satanic Verses” was arrested during a speech in New York. Severe stab wounds.
It was previously reported that the acclaimed writer was taken off the ventilator on August 13 and was able to speak. Literary agent Andrew Wiley has warned that while Rushdie’s “things are moving in the right direction”, his recovery is still long. Wiley has previously said that Rushdie, 75, has liver damage and nerve damage in one arm and one eye, which he is likely to lose.
“Despite the serious damage to his life, his usual combative and defiant sense of humor remains intact,” Rushdie’s son Zafar Rushdie said in a statement. in critical condition. The family’s statement also thanked the “spectators who bravely defended him” as well as police, doctors and “the outpouring of love and support”.
Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, N.J., has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges prosecutors say at Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit educational and retreat center in Western New York “Targeted, unprovoked and planned attacks”.
The attack sparked global shock and outrage, with praise for the man who has endured death threats and a $3 million bounty for “Satanic Verses” for more than 30 years, including nine years in hiding under the protection of the British government. “
“It was an attack on his body, his life and every value he stood for,” Henry Rees, 73, told The Associated Press. The co-founder of the Pittsburgh City of Sanctuary was on stage with Rushdie with a bruise, bruise and other minor injuries to his forehead. They plan to discuss writers’ safety and the need for free speech.
Writers, activists and government officials have cited Rushdie’s bravery in the face of intimidation and longstanding support for free speech. Writer and longtime friend Ian McEwan called Rushdie an “inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists,” and actor and author Cal Penn called him a role model, “especially to many of us in the South Asian diaspora.”
US President Joe Biden said in a statement: “Salman Rushdie – with his insight into human nature, unparalleled sense of story, refusal to be intimidated or silenced – represents a fundamental, universal Ideal.” “Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear.”
Born to a Muslim family in India, and having lived in the UK and the US, Rushdie is known for his surreal and satirical prose, starting with his 1981 Booker Prize-winning novel The Midnight Child. In it, it sharply criticized then-Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India.
The 1988 Satanic Verses infused with magical realism drew the ire of some Muslims, who saw elements of the novel as blasphemous.
They believe Rushdie insulted the Prophet Muhammad by naming a character Mahound, a medieval corruption of “Muhammad”. The character is the prophet of a city called Jahiliya, which in Arabic refers to the time before Islam appeared on the Arabian Peninsula. Another sequence includes prostitutes with the same names as Muhammad’s nine wives. The novel also suggests that Muhammad, rather than Allah, may have been the real author of the Qur’an.
When Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued an order in 1989 calling for Rushdie’s death, the book had already been banned and burned in India, Pakistan and elsewhere. Khomeini died that same year, but the order is still in effect – although Iran, in recent years, has not paid attention to Rushdie.
Iran’s state-run newspaper, IRNA, hailed the attack as “executing the mandate of heaven”. Another hardline newspaper, Kayhan, called it “divine revenge” that could partly quell Muslim anger.
Investigators are trying to determine whether the suspect, who was born nearly a decade after the novel was published, acted alone. A prosecutor suggested that often Fatwa was a potential motive for opposing bail.
“His resources are not important to me. We know that the agenda that is executed has been adopted and approved by larger groups and organizations far beyond the jurisdiction of Chautauqua County,” District Attorney Jason Schmidt said.
Schmidt said Mattar received an early pass for the author’s speaking event and arrived a day early, with a fake ID. The judge ordered Matar not to bail.
Public defender Nathaniel Barone complained that authorities took too long to bring Mattar to the judge, leaving him “tied to a bench in a state police battalion,” stressing that Mattar had presumption of innocence.
Barone said after the hearing that Matar had been communicating with him openly and that he would try to understand if his client had psychological or addiction issues.
Village chief Ali Tehfe told The Associated Press that Matar was born in the United States to parents who immigrated from Yaroun in southern Lebanon. Flags of the Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah, as well as portraits of Hezbollah and Iranian leaders, were seen throughout Yarouen before journalists who asked to visit left.
A Hezbollah spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Lebanon’s top Shiite leader, Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Kabalan, discredited Rushdi in a speech but did not directly support the attack, saying Rushdi was “handling history and The Cheapest and Worst of Legacy”.
In Tehran, some Iranians interviewed by The Associated Press praised the attack on a writer they believed had tarnished the Islamic faith, while others feared it would further isolate their country.
A state trooper and a county sheriff’s deputy were assigned to Rushdie’s speech, the officer police said arrested him. But later, some longtime visitors to the idyllic resort questioned why there were no stricter security measures given the history of threats to Rushdie.
On August 12, an Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker stab or punch Rushdie about 10 or 15 times. Host Rees told CNN he initially thought the attack was a hoax.
News of the stabbing has revived interest in “The Satanic Verses,” which topped the bestseller list after the 1989 decree. As of August 14, the novel was at number 11 on Amazon.com’s list.
One of Rushdie’s ex-wives, author and TV host Padma Lakshmi, tweeted that she was “relieved” by Rushdie’s prognosis.
“Worried, speechless, and finally relieved,” she wrote. “Now I hope to recover as soon as possible.”
