Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times by 24-year-old Hadi Matar during a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, New York, on Friday, August 12, 2022. Padma Lakshmi is ‘relieved’ he is ‘making it’ and recover. Padma Lakshmi, 51, wished Salman Rushdie a “speedy recovery” from the attack. She and Salman Rushdie were married from 2004 until their divorce in 2007. On early Sunday morning, August 14, the “Top Chef” host posted on Twitter, “Relieved @SalmanRushdie is doing fine after nightmare Friday, Finally able to breathe out, worried and speechless. Now wishing for a speedy recovery. His post came after reports that Rushdie, who remains in serious condition, had been taken off the ventilator and able to speak a few words.
Salman Rushdie was stabbed ’15 times’ by Hadi Matar
Salman Rushdie, the well-known author of “Satanic Verses”, is no longer on a ventilator and his condition is improving. He was hospitalized with serious injuries after being stabbed multiple times during a public engagement in New York. His agent Andrew Wylie said: “It is going to be extended as the injuries are serious but his condition is improving. The author was stabbed 15 times, “at least once in the neck and at least once in the stomach”, according to the police. Rushdie was airlifted to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery and remained while the attacker was apprehended by New York State Police. Authorities suspect Matar of having sympathy for the “fatwa” issued by the Iranian government, despite the fact that the exact cause of the attack on the author is still under investigation. Through his attorney, Matar pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder and assault allegations, and bail was denied.
Even though Lakshmi was cordial in her tweet, she and Rushdie have occasionally been at odds. Rushdie called Lakshmi’s behavior “majestic narcissism”, but Lakshmi claimed her ex-husband demanded constant adoration, feeding and care, not to mention “often having sex”. Rushdie’s son, Zafar Rushdie, claimed that after turning off the fan, his father was able to speak a few words. Zafar Rushdie tweeted: “Although his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual fiery and defiant sense of humor is intact. Authorities are still investigating Matar’s citizenship and, if applicable, his criminal history. A preliminary review of Matar’s social media accounts, according to New York State Police Maj. Eugene J Staniszewski, revealed that he had “sympathy with Shia radicalism and the Islamic Revolution of Iran, or IRGC”.
Authorities believe Matar carried out the attack alone and without the help of anyone else, as they are currently investigating the motivation for the incident. The New York State Police are assisted in their investigation by the FBI. Officials found a messaging app on Matar’s phone that contained pictures of Soleimani, an Iraqi extremist who supports the Iranian government, despite the fact that there are no clear links between Matar and the IRGC, that the US government has designated as a terrorist group. Iran has banned the controversial book “Satanic Verses”, and Ayatollah Khomeini has set a $3.3 million bounty on the author’s head.
Rushdie previously said he receives a “kind of Valentine’s Day letter” from Iran every year reminding him that the country has not forgotten its promise to assassinate him. Rushdie was forced into hiding for a decade while living under police protection. The book’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was also killed as a result of the fatwa, and the book’s publishers and translators in Turkey, Norway and Italy were also targeted. There were also global riots and book burnings, and “The Satanic Verses” were banned in many countries. “Being under the fatwa was like a prison, but I think one of the problems is that from the outside it looked glamorous, because sometimes I showed up at Jags places with guys rushing to open the door and make sure you get in safely and so on,’ Rushdie reportedly told DailyMail. What the hell does he think he looks like? Well, for me, it was like being in prison.
He continued: “I might have traded an insult to Islam in a sentence rather than writing a 250,000 word novel, a work of fiction. Iran’s reformist president relaxed the fatwa in 1998 and said the nation had no intention of locating and assassinating Rushdie.
