New York: Salman Rushdie has lost one eye and one hand after the brutal knife attack on the acclaimed Mumbai-born writer in August, his literary agent said. Rushdie, who had faced Islamist death threats for years after writing the book “The Satanic Verses,” was stabbed in the neck and stomach by 24-year-old New Jersey resident Hadi Matar, a Lebanese American, on stage. Original. The 75-year-old Booker Prize-winning author was attacked when he was getting ready to speak at a literary event at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
Salman Rushdie injured in brutal attack
Rushdie’s wounds “were serious, but that’s [also] He lost his sight in one eye… He had three serious wounds on his neck. One hand is disabled because the nerves in his hand have been cut. And there are about 15 more wounds in his chest and trunk. So, it was a brutal attack,” his literary agent Andrew Wyllie told the Spanish-language newspaper El Pa in an interview.
When asked if Rushdie is still in the hospital, Wiley said he could not provide any information about the famous author’s whereabouts.
“He’s going to live, that’s the more important thing,” he said.
‘fatwa’ issued against Rushdie
He was asked whether the attack on Rushdie, years after a fatwa was issued against him, meant that “we are living in a particularly dangerous time for freedom of expression in the world.”
“I think the attack was probably something that Salman and I had discussed in the past, which was the major threat I faced for so many years after the fatwa was imposed was a random person coming out of nowhere and to attack [him]Willie replied.
“So, you can’t defend it because it’s completely unexpected and illogical. It was like killing John Lennon,” he said.
India had condemned the attack
India had condemned the “horrific attack” on the famous novelist and wished him a speedy recovery.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said at his weekly media briefing in August, “India has always stood against violence and extremism. We condemn the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie and we wish him a speedy recovery.” “
The attack on Rushdie drew global condemnation and an outpouring of support for the author.
Rushdie spent years in hiding after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a ‘fatwa’ for his death in 1989 following the publication of his novel ‘The Satanic Verses’. After the attack, Iran denied any connection with the attacker. Rushdie was born in 1947 in Mumbai. He was sent to a boarding school in England before attending the University of Cambridge. In 2007, he was knighted for services to literature.