Salman Rushdie - live: Author’s ‘feisty sense of humour intact’ despite ‘severe injuries’
Author, 75, was target of ‘fatwa’ by Iranian religious leaders over 1988 book The Satanic Verses
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Sir Salman Rushdie’s “feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact”, his son Zafar said as the author is being treated for severe injuries in hospital after being stabbed.
Earlier the author’s agent said he was on the road to recovery after the incident in New York on Friday.
Sir Salman, 75, has been taken off life support and is “on the road to recovery,” his agent Andrew Wylie said.
He wrote in an email: “He’s off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun. It will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction.”
Hadi Matar, 24, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder on Saturday after Sir Salman was stabbed multiple times before he was scheduled to deliver a lecture on the importance of freedom of expression.
Jason Schmidt, Chautauqua County District attorney, refused Matar bail. He is due to appear in court again on Friday. “This was a targeted, unprovoked, pre-planned attack on Mr Rushdie,” the judge said.
Iran newspapers react to attack
At newstands on Saturday, front-page headlines offered their own takes on the attack. The hard-line Vatan-e Emrouz's main story covered what it described as: “A knife in the neck of Salman Rushdie.” The reformist newspaper Etemad's headline asked: “Salman Rushdie in neighborhood of death?”
But the 15th Khordad Foundation — which put the over $3 million bounty on Rushdie — remained quiet at the start of the working week. Staffers there declined to immediately comment to the AP, referring questions to an official not in the office.
The foundation, whose name refers to the 1963 protests against Iran's former shah by Khomeini's supporters, typically focuses on providing aid to the disabled and others affected by war. But it, like other foundations known as “bonyads” in Iran funded in part by confiscated assets from the shah's time, often serve the political interests of the country's hard-liners.
‘This is pleasing'
On Saturday, Mohammad Mahdi Movaghar, a 34-year-old Tehran resident, described having a “good feeling” after seeing Rushdie attacked.
“This is pleasing and shows those who insult the sacred things of we Muslims, in addition to punishment in the hereafter, will get punished in this world too at the hands of people,” he said.
‘It will make Iran more isolated'
Others, however, worried the attack — regardless of why it was carried out — could hurt Iran as it tries to negotiate over its nuclear deal with world powers.
Since then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, Tehran has seen its rial currency plummet and its economy crater. Meanwhile, Tehran enriches uranium now closer than ever to weapons-grade levels amid a series of attacks across the Mideast.
“It will make Iran more isolated,” warned former Iranian diplomat Mashallah Sefatzadeh.
Salman Rushdie ‘stabbed in neck’ on stage at New York event
Author Salman Rushdie, who was once the subject of a fatwa for his writing, was stabbed in the neck while on stage at a literary event in western New York, State Police said.
The renowned British Indian novelist was on stage preparing to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when a man stormed the stage and stabbed him, according to an AP reporter who witnessed the attack. Another person who was due to interview Mr Rushdie was also attacked.
Read Richard Hall’s full report.
Salman Rushdie ‘stabbed in neck’ on stage at New York event
The author of The Satanic Verses was once the subject of a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Iranian kidnap plot journalist shows solidarity with Rushdie
A journalist who was the subject of a kidnapping attempt by Iranian intelligence officials has spoken out about the attack on Mr Rushdie.
“You can kill us but you cannot kill the idea of writing & fighting for our dignity,” Masih Alinejad said. “I condemn the barbaric attack on Salman Rushdie”.
Last year four Iranian intelligence officers were charged with plotting to kidnap Ms Alinejad, a New York-based Iranian journalist critical of the regime in Tehran.
Salman Rushdie’s attack is on everyone who believes Islam deserves special treatment
While the UK has stood by Rushdie all these years, we have seemingly given up on the free speech ideals that the author has stood for, writes Kunwar Khuldune Shahid.
Read Kunwar’s full piece here:
Opinion: Salman Rushdie’s attack is on everyone who gives Islam special treatment
While the UK has stood by Rushdie all these years, we have seemingly given up on the free speech ideals that the author has stood for
Venue where author stabbed ‘rejected advice to tighten security’
The venue where Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck rejected advice to tighten up its security prior to last night’s attack, according to a report.
Sources told CNN that recommendations on measures such as bag checks and metal detectors were not taken up by the Chautauqua Institution, near Buffalo, New York, where Mr Rushdie had been scheduled to deliver a lecture, over fears that it would change the venue’s culture.
It has not yet been confirmed what type of weapon the alleged attacker, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, of New Jersey, used in the attack.
Boris Johnson and JK Rowling among those to react to author’s stabbing
Boris Johnson and JK Rowling were among those who voiced their shock after Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage in New York state.
Aisha Rimi has more.
Boris Johnson and JK Rowling among those who reacted to Salman Rushdie attack
The author was stabbed in the neck while on stage at a literary event, according to New York Police
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sends best wishes
Former Labour leader and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn has sent his best wishes to Mr Rushdie and his family.
“I wish him and his loved ones well as they cope with the trauma of the attack and walk the road of recovery,” he said.
“Writers should not face violence for their thoughts and words.”
The assault on Salman Rushdie is a cruel reminder that the past still casts a long shadow
“The young man suspected of stabbing the writer was not even born when The Satanic Verses was first published,” writes Omar Waraich for The Independent.
“He is unlikely to have read the novel, let alone grasped the attempt at magical realism.”
Read Mr Waraich’s analysis of the long shadow that has followed Mr Rushdie below.
The assault on Salman Rushdie is cruel reminder that the past still casts a shadow
Young man who allegedly stabbed writer not even born when ‘The Satanic Verses’ first published, writes Omar Waraich
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