In an interview two weeks ago, he said, “Now it seems that I have returned to my normal life”
Salman Rushdi, a 75-year-old author of ‘Devil’s Poem’, who was attacked with a knife, took off the ventilator and is recovering, Rushdi aides said.
“Rushdie’s ventilator has been removed and he is on the way to recovery,” Andrew Wiley, publishing agent at Rushdie, said in a statement. The Associated Press reported that he said.
Earlier, Rushdi’s fellow writer, Atishi Tashir, tweeted the evening before, “Rushdi took off the ventilator and was talking (he was also joking).”
Rushdi’s son, Jafar, said in a statement on behalf of the family, “Although his injuries are serious, his father’s positive and challenging sense of humor still lives on.”
He then expressed his gratitude to the audience, police, and medical staff who helped his father during the lecture.
Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a knife wielded by a man in his 20s who rushed to the stage while preparing a lecture at a literature festival held in Shutterquare, New York on the 12th.
Rushdie, who was seriously injured, was taken to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery, shortly following Wiley revealed that he was on a ventilator.
Wiley also said that Rushdie’s arm nerves were severed, his liver was damaged and he was likely to lose one eye.
US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln said in a statement regarding the attack, “This is despicable.” said.
Rushdi has suffered death threats for decades as he faced fierce accusations from the Muslim world for his disrespectful portrayal of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in his 1988 novel The Devil’s Poem.
After the incident, the Iranian authorities did not make any official comments, but the hard-line state media are celebrating with headlines such as ‘Satan has gone blind’.
While some support the attack online, many Iranians have expressed their sympathy for Rushdi, with anger towards a Muslim cleric who in the past issued a fatwa (edict) effectively ordering Rushdi’s execution, Archyde.com reported. .
It is known that Rushdie said in a media interview just two weeks before this incident, “It seems that I have returned to my normal life now,” and this is causing regret for the attack.
He said in an interview with the German news magazine Stern, that life would have been much more dangerous if social media had existed when he was writing the devil’s poem.
“It’s serious with Partwa,” he said.
Fortunately, there was no internet at that time.
Iranians faxed Fatwa to the mosque, but that’s a thing of the past.
These days, my life has become very normal once more.”
When asked what he fears now, he said, “In the past, I would have said I was a religious fanatic, but I don’t say that anymore.
“The biggest risk we face right now is the loss of democracy.”
/yunhap news
