Tamara Rapajic
British-American author Salman Rushdie sustained 10 wounds in an attack at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
Who is Salman Rushdie?
Salman Rushdie is a British-American novelist. He was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), while India was still under British occupation. Rushdie has received many prizes for his work and holds honorary doctorates at six European and six American universities. His work has been translated into over forty different languages and has even been adapted for the theatre and turned into a film. His writing has touched on various religious and political issues which has resultantly led to controversy surrounding the author.
The Satanic Verses
“he very recently started to believe his life had returned to normalcy.”
The Satanic Verses, published in September 1988, is Rushdie’s fourth novel. The novel portrays a character who is modelled on the Prophet Muhammad and his transcriptions of the Quran. There was an international outcry against the novel as Muslim communities across the globe denounced the book as blasphemous. The spiritual leader of Iran at the time, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, even issued a fatwa against the author and a bounty was offered to anyone who executed the author. Rushdie subsequently went into hiding, under the protection of Scotland Yard, and emerged occasionally and unexpectedly. However, he very recently started to believe his life had returned to normalcy.
The Attack
“Rushdie’s wounds are profound”
On 12th August, as Salman Rushdie went on stage to give a speech at the Chautauqua Institution, he was viciously attacked. The author sustained 10 injuries in total: three to the front of his neck, four to his stomach, one to his right eye, one to his chest, and a cut to his right thigh. His agent has confirmed that the author has lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand since. The agent explained that Rushdie’s wounds are profound as he sustained: “three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso.” The agent reassured that the author was going to live but didn’t confirm whether Rushdie had been discharged from the hospital yet, however, he had been taken off a ventilator and could speak.
“The motive behind the attack remains unclear.”
The man accused of stabbing Rushdie is Hadi Matar, aged 24. On 18th August, he pleaded ‘not guilty’ to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges. However, he was arraigned during a hearing in Chautauqua County District Court where a grand jury indicted Matar on one count of second-degree attempted murder and one count of second-degree assault. The motive behind the attack remains unclear.
Featured image courtesy of Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
