MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie remained hospitalized Saturday after suffering serious stabbing injuries. This was met with shock and outrage by many people around the world. For years he faced death threats for his novel Satanic Verse.
Rushdie, 75, had liver damage, severed nerves in his arms and eyes, and was on a ventilator and unable to speak, his agent Andrew Wiley said Friday night. could have lost his injured eye.
Hadi Matar, who allegedly attacked Rushdie, was due to appear in court on Saturday and face charges of attempted murder and assault, officials said. A message was left for his attorney for comment.
Writers, activists and government officials have condemned the attacks, citing Rushdie’s bravery in defending free speech over the years despite the risks to his own personal safety. Rushdie’s fellow writer and longtime friend Ian McEwan called him “an inspirational advocate for persecuted writers and journalists around the world”, and actor and author Kal Penn called him He cited it as “a role model for an entire generation of artists, especially our generation.” The South Asian diaspora in which he displayed incredible warmth.
Matter, 24, was arrested after an attack at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center where Rushdie was scheduled to speak.
Authorities say Matter is from Fairview, New Jersey. He was born in the United States to Lebanese parents who migrated from Yalon, a border village in southern Lebanon, village head Ali Teefe told The Associated Press. The flag of the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah and the flags of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the slain Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Portraits can be seen all over the village. A small number of Christians also live in the village.
Originally from India, Rushdie has lived in the UK and US since then, beginning with the 1981 Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight’s Children, known for its surreal and satirical prose style. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
After “The Satanic Verses” was published in 1988, many Muslims viewed the dream sequences based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemy and provoked death threats. Before Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death in 1989, it had already been banned and burned in India, Pakistan and elsewhere.
Ayatollah Khomeini died the year he issued the fatwa, and the fatwa is still valid. Iran’s current supreme leader, Khamenei, has never issued his own fatwa revoking an edict, but Iran has not focused on writers in recent years.
Investigators were working to determine whether the perpetrator, who was born ten years after “The Satanic Verse” was published, acted alone.
Journalists in Yaroun village, where the suspect’s parents moved, were asked to leave on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokesperson did not respond to his AP inquiries about the attacks on Matar and Rushdie.
Iran’s theocratic government and its state media did not give a reason for the attack. In Tehran, some Iranians interviewed by the AP hailed the attack on an author they believed had undermined their Islamic faith, while others feared it would further isolate their country. Worried.
An AP reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage, stabbing and punching him 10 to 15 times as the author was being introduced. Dr. Martin Haskell, one of the doctors who rushed for help, described Rushdie’s wounds as “serious but reversible.”
Henry Reese, 73, co-founder of an organization that provides residencies for writers facing persecution and the event’s host, was also attacked. Police said Reese suffered facial injuries and was discharged after receiving treatment. He and Rushdie planned to discuss the United States as a haven for writers and other artists in exile.
A state trooper and county sheriff’s deputy were assigned to lecture on Rushdie, and state police said officers had made the arrest. Given the threats and a bounty of more than $3 million on the line for whoever killed him, I wondered why security wasn’t increased at the event.
Matar, like other visitors, had obtained a pass to enter the Chautauqua Institute’s 750-acre property, said Michael Hill, president of the facility.
Rabbi Charles Savener was one of about 2,500 people in the audience who saw Rushdie’s appearance.
The assailant ran to the platform and began beating Mr. Rushdie. At first I was like, ‘What’s going on?
Another spectator, Kathleen James, said the attacker was dressed in black and had a black mask.
In gasps, the audience was ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.
A sting echoed from the quiet town of Chautauqua to the United Nations, which issued a statement expressing the horror of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and stressing that free expression and opinion should not be met with violence.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s attack. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the attack was “condemnable.” , said the Biden administration hopes for a speedy recovery for Rushdie.
After the publication of The Satanic Verse, often violent protests erupted throughout the Muslim world against Rushdie, who was born into a Muslim family in India and has long identified as a non-believer, and once himself called a “strong atheist”. “
At least 45 people died in riots over the book, including 12 in Rushdie’s hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, the Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death, and the Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the Norwegian publisher of this book said that he was shot three times, but survived.
Death threats and bounties have led Rushdie into hiding under a British government protection program that includes 24-hour armed guards. Emerging after his nine-year quarantine, Rushdie has made a discreet public appearance and maintained an outspoken critique of religious extremism as a whole.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir on fatwas, Joseph Anton. The title comes from the pseudonym Rushdie used while in hiding. He said in a lecture in New York that same year that a memoir appeared in which terrorism was actually the art of terror.
“The only way to beat it is to decide not to be afraid,” he said.
About 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Buffalo, in the New York countryside, the Chautauqua Institution has served as a place of reflection and spiritual guidance for more than a century. Visitors do not go through metal detectors or undergo security checks. Most people leave their 100-year-old cottage doors unlocked at night.
The center is known for a series of summer lectures in which Rushdie previously gave.
The evening gathering brought together hundreds of residents and visitors for prayer, music, and a long silence.
“You can’t beat hate,” cried one man.
Italy reported from New York. Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehaeb contributed to this report from Beirut.
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