Salman Rushdie is “on the path to recovery,” his representative announced on Sunday, two days after the author of “The Satanic Verses” was stabbed during a lecture in upstate New York and sustained critical injuries.
The declaration follows reports that the renowned author was removed from a ventilator and able to speak and laugh on Saturday. Andrew Wylie, a literary agency, emphasized that while Salman Rushdie’s “condition is improving,” his recuperation will be lengthy. Wylie had earlier said that Rushdie, 75, had a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm and an eye, and would certainly lose the affected eye.
“Although his life-altering injuries are serious, his customary feisty and rebellious sense of humor remains intact,” Rushdie’s son Zafar Rushdie said in a statement released on Sunday, in which he emphasized the author’s precarious condition. The family’s letter also thanked “crowd members who courageously rushed to his defense,” as well as police, physicians, and “the outpouring of love and support from across the globe.”
Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty on Saturday to counts of attempted murder and assault in what a prosecutor termed a “targeted, unjustified, premeditated attack” at the Chautauqua Institution, a non-profit educational institution and retreat center.
The assault was hailed with worldwide shock and indignation, as well as support for the man who had endured death threats and a $3 million reward for “The Satanic Verses” for more than three decades. Rushdie even went into hiding for nine years as part of a British government protection scheme.
In the face of such harassment, authors, activists, and government officials highlighted Rushdie’s courage and longstanding advocacy for free expression. Longtime friend and novelist Ian McEwan described Rushdie as a “inspirational defender of persecuted authors and journalists,” while actor-author Kal Penn referred to him as a “role model for a whole generation of artists, particularly those of us in the South Asian diaspora.”
“With his insight into humanity, his unrivaled narrative sense, and his unwillingness to be bullied or silenced, Salman Rushdie represents important, universal ideas,” President Biden said in a statement released on Saturday. “Truth and bravery Resilience. The capacity to communicate without fear.”
Rushdie, who was born into a Muslim family in India and has resided in Britain and the United States, is recognized for his surreal and sarcastic language, starting with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 book “Midnight’s Children,” in which he harshly attacked India’s then-prime leader, Indira Gandhi.
The blasphemous themes of “The Satanic Verses,” a book published in 1988 and infused with magical realism, angered many Muslims.
Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie was present at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 12, 2017 in Frankfurt, Germany.
They claimed that by dubbing a character Mahound, a medieval perversion of “Muhammad,” Rushdie had offended the Prophet Muhammad. The figure was a prophet in the city of Jahilia, which in Arabic relates to the era before the arrival of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula. In another series, the names of the prostitutes resemble those of some of Muhammad’s nine wives. The story also suggests that Muhammad, and not Allah, may have been the true creator of the Quran.
In 1989, Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or decree, calling for Rushdie’s execution. The book had already been banned and burnt in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Khomeini died the same year, but the fatwa remains in place – even though Iran has not focused on Rushdie in recent years.
Sunday, Iran Daily, the state-run daily of Iran, lauded the strike as the “execution of divine mandate.” Kayhan, another extremist daily, referred to it as “divine vengeance,” which would somewhat ease the rage of Muslims.
Investigators were attempting to discover whether the suspect, who was born almost a decade after the publication of the book, acted alone. In arguing against bail, the prosecution referenced to the existing fatwa as a probable reason.
“His wealth are irrelevant to me. We are aware that the agenda that was executed yesterday was endorsed and sanctioned by bigger individuals and organizations that extend far beyond the boundaries of Chautauqua County “Attorney General Jason Schmidt said.
Schmidt said that Matar obtained an advance permit to the event where the author was speaking and came a day early with a phony identification card. Matar was ordered jailed without bail by the court.
Public counsel Nathaniel Barone claimed that authorities had taken too long to bring Matar before a court, keeping him “tied down to a bench at the state police barracks,” and he emphasized Matar’s right to presumption of innocence.
Barone said after the court that Matar has been speaking with him freely and that he would spend the next several weeks attempting to understand more about his client, including if he has psychiatric or addiction concerns.
Hadi Matar, the suspect in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie, is seen in booking images taken in Mayville.
Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, who pled not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges against renowned author Salman Rushdie, appears in booking photos taken on August 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua County Jail in Mayville, New York.
Matar was born in the United States to parents who came from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, according to the local mayor, Ali Tehfe. Flags of the Iran-backed Shia terrorist organization Hezbollah and photographs of Hezbollah and Iranian officials were visible around Yaroun before journalists were asked to leave on Saturday.
The Hezbollah did not reply to demands for comment.
Some Iranians questioned by the Associated Press in Tehran lauded the assault on an author they say tarnishes the Islamic religion, while others expressed concern that it would further isolate their nation.
Henry Reese, 73, received a face injury and was discharged from the hospital, according to authorities. They had intended to discuss the United States as a haven for exiled artists.
A state trooper and a county sheriff’s deputy were assigned to Rushdie’s speech, and according to authorities, the arrest was made by the trooper. Given the history of threats against Rushdie, though, several longstanding visitors to the idyllic holiday colony questioned why there wasn’t more protection.
On Friday, an AP reporter saw the assailant stab or hit Rushdie ten to fifteen times.
The news of the stabbing has rekindled interest in “The Satanic Verses,” which topped bestseller charts in 1989 when the fatwa was declared. As of Sunday morning, the book was placed eleventh on Amazon.com’s bestseller list.
Padma Lakshmi, an author and television personality, tweeted on Sunday that she was “relieved” by the prognosis for Salman Rushdie.
She wrote, “Worried and speechless, I can finally breath.” Now hope for a speedy recovery.