Salman Rushdie’s agent provides update on writer’s health after attack — RT World News
August attack left writer blind in one eye and incapacitated in one hand, his literary agent has revealed
Salman Rushdie has lost the sight of one eye and the use of one hand due to « a brutal attack » about him in August, the writer’s literary agent Andrew Wylie revealed in an interview with El Pais newspaper.
The Anglo-American writer of Indian origin was stabbed on August 12 in an educational center in New York State as he prepared to give a lecture in front of a large audience. Rushdie has lived under constant threat since 1989, when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the writer’s death for his novel « The Satanic Verses ». The fatwa, which is still considered by many to be active, forced the writer to spend years in hiding with 24-hour police protection.
In an interview published on Saturday, Wylie said Rushdie had around 15 chest and torso injuries and « three serious neck wounds. »
« A hand is incapacitated because the nerves in its arm have been severed », said the literary agent.
He added that Rushdie also « lost the sight of one eye but pointed out that, more importantly, the author « go live. »
Wylie declined to say if Rushdie is still in the hospital, explaining that he cannot reveal his client’s whereabouts.
The agent said the August incident was not surprising to either him or Rushdie himself, as they had discussed the possibility of such an attack in the past.
“The main danger he faced so many years after the imposition of the fatwa came from a random person coming out of nowhere and attacking [him] », he explained, adding that it is impossible to protect yourself from something « totally unexpected and illogical. »
Shortly after the attack, the writer’s son, Zafar Rushdie, said in a statement that his father’s wounds were « lifestyle change » and « strict» but that his « The provocative sense of humor remains intact. »
A 24-year-old Lebanese-American, Hadi Matar, accused of stabbing Rushdie, in a prison interview with the New York Post in August, called the late Ayatollah Khomeini « a great person » but did not say whether he was following a fatwa. He also said he didn’t like Rushdie because, according to him, « he is someone who attacked islam.
Matar pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.
Iran, which in 1998 publicly pledged to « neither support nor hinder the assassination operations on Rushdie,categorically denied any connection with the New York attack on the writer. At the same time, the country’s foreign ministry said that « no one deserves blame except Rushdie and his followers » for the incident.
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