Salman Rushdie recovering from stabbing attack

Salman Rushdie recovering after getting stabbed.

Famed author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed 10 times as he was being introduced for a lecture, is slowly recovering, says his family.

The 75-year old Rushdie, who was brutally attacked two days ago, is slowly recovering after suffering 10 stab wounds in the neck and chest, his family says.

"My father remains in critical condition in hospital receiving extensive ongoing medical treatment. We are extremely relieves that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and additional oxygen and he was able to say a few words," tweeted Rushdie's son, Safar Rushdie.

"Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty and defiant sense of humor remains intact," the tweet continued.

Rushdie's 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses was deemed blasphemous by some Muslim leaders and religious leaders offered an award for the author's death. Rushdie has been in hiding ever since the threats on his life.

The attacking suspect, New Jersey man Hadi Matar, was subdued and arrested on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York  where Rushdie was being introduced for a lecture.

The suspect has appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder and assault with a weapon.

Silvana Fardos, the suspect's mother, said she was surprised by her son's actions but noted that his personality changed after a trip to Lebanon to visit his father.

President Joe Biden on Saturday issued a statement saying that he and the first lady, Jill, were "shocked and saddened" by the "vicious" attack on the Mumbai-born Rushdie.

"Salman Rushdie—with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced—stands for essential, universal ideals," Biden's statement read. "Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are the building blocks of any free and open society. And today, we reaffirm our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

Famed writer Salman Rushdie hospitalized after stabbing attack

Author Salman Rushdie remains in the hospital after being attacked during a lecture.

Novelist Salman Rushdie in the hospital breathing after being stabbed multiple times during a lecture. His agent says that the Indian American author was breathing through a ventilator and probably will lose sight in one eye.

Rushdie, 75, was being introduced at New York's Chautauqua Institution Riday for a lecture on the importance of freedom of creative expression when he was attacked by a man with a knife.

“The news is not good,” said Rushdie's agent Andrew Wylie later Friday. “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

The assailant was detained by audience members during the attack while a doctor in the audience tended to Rushdie's wounds. The suspected assailant was identified as Hadi Matar, 24, from Fairview, New Jersey. No motive or charges have yet been confirmed by police, who are in the process of obtaining search warrants to examine a backpack and electronic devices found at the centre.

Rushdie has faced death threats for more than 30 years since the publication of The Satanic Verses. which offended some Muslims by the way the Prophet Muhammad was portrayed. 

The Satanic Verses was banned first in the author's country of birth, India, and then several other countries before Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued his infamous fatwa, a decree issued by a religious leader. It called for the death for anyone involved in the publication of the book and offered rewards to those who took part in the slayings. That fatwa has never formally been rescinded. Rushdie has been in hiding since the fatwa was issued.

In 1991 a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death, while a few months later, an Italian translator was also stabbed and the book's Norwegian publisher, William Nygaard, was shot - but both survived.

The Mumbai-born Rushdie, who holds dual citizenships in Great Britain and the United States, was knighted in 2007 by the Queen. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.