Reporter | Ye Qing
Edit | Yellow Moon
On August 12, local time, Salman Rushdie, an Indian-British writer, was assassinated at an event in New York State and was immediately taken to the hospital by helicopter. Rosidi's son, Zafar, said in a statement on social media that Russidi was now out of a ventilator, could breathe and speak on his own, and that his "determined, rebellious sense of humor had not been damaged."
Andrew Wylie, Russidie's literary agent, revealed in an email that "[he] was badly injured." According to his description, There were a total of 10 knife wounds on Lusidi's body, 3 in the neck, 4 in the stomach, 1 wound in the right eye, chest and thigh, and the nerves in the liver, hand and right eye were damaged, and the right eye was likely to be blind. "However, his condition is improving... There is still a long way to go before recovery," Willie added.
Just two weeks before the incident, Rusidi had said in an interview that he had "returned to normal life" and was no longer afraid of being attacked at any time. According to the New York State Police, this was a premeditated attack. The perpetrator was Hadi Matar, 24 years old. Matar bought tickets and knives for the event in advance, came to the place where Russidi spoke a day in advance with a fake ID card, rushed to the stage while Russidi was speaking, launched an attack, and was arrested on the spot.
Matar has been indicted by local prosecutors on charges of premeditated murder and assault. He attended the hearing dressed as a prisoner, his lawyer defended his innocence and the judge announced that he would not be released on bail. The verdict, which is currently pending, is punishable by up to 25 years in prison under the new York state law, if convicted, intentional murder.
Russidi was sentenced to death in 1989 by Iran's former religious and political leader Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini for containing some of the elements of Islam and Muhammad in his novel The Satanic Psalms, who also issued a Fatwa (Islamic Decree) offering a $3 million reward calling on followers to assassinate Russidi. Rusidi lived under british government asylum until 1998, when Iran revoked his death sentence, but the fatwa was never formally revoked, and Russidi still received frequent death threats.
While Iranian officials issued statements saying the attack was "absolutely irrelevant" to them, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani mentioned that Rosidi was attacked only "to blame himself." Commenting on the matter at a weekly press conference, Canaan said, "In this attack, we do not believe that there are people who deserve to be held accountable and convicted, apart from Salman Rushi and his supporters... By insulting the sacred things of Islam, crossing the line of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and followers of Islam, he exposed himself to the anger of the people. ”
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded, "It is absurd to think that Rosidy needs to take any responsibility for this terrible attack." This is not just an attack on him, but also on the right to free speech and expression. The UK government is with him and his family, and we will always defend global freedom of expression. ”
In addition to the British government, the writers' community also expressed support for Russidi. Writing in The Guardian, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood recalls her first encounter with Rosidi: "In 1992, at a theatre in Toronto... We were told that the backstage was blocked. The agents were all talking to their sleeves. Salman Russidi was secretly brought in (Canada). On the same day, Russidi shared the stage with then-Ontario Prime Minister Bob Rae, the first head of government to publicly support Rossidi.
In the article, Atwood explains why the writers' community is easily targeted: "Writers have no army, they do not sit on tens of millions of assets, they do not have loyal voters, so they become cheap scapegoats... The medium of writing is inherently ambiguous and easily misunderstood. At the end of the article, Atwood thanked Russidi for his contribution to free speech: "Russidi did not intend to be a hero of free speech, but now he is a hero." All writers owe him a solemn thank you. ”
Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling Rowling, who also took to social media to support Rosidy, wrote, "Bad news. I feel very unwell now. Hope he's okay. But Rowling's voice drew death threats to her, with a user named "Meer Asif Asiz" commenting, "Don't worry, you're next." Rowling posted a screenshot of the comment and said she had called the police. It is reported that the user also issued remarks praising the perpetrators of the attack on Lusidi, and a Scottish Police spokesman said that the report has been accepted and the investigation is ongoing.
Rusidi, 75, won the Booker Prize for his second novel, Midnight's Children, and was later awarded the Titles of "Best Work in the 25th Anniversary of the Booker Award" and "Best Work in the 40th Anniversary of the Booker Prize". His latest novel, Victory City, set in South India and telling stories of love, adventure and mythology, will be published in February 2023.
Resources:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/my-next-book-is-an-indian-novel-when-salman-rushdie-revealed-about-his-new-book-victory-city/articleshow/93558104.cms
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/15/salman-rushdie-free-speech-tyranny-satanic-verses
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/15/iran-says-salman-rushdie-and-supporters-to-blame-for-his-attack
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/14/europe/jk-rowling-threat-salman-rushdie-tweet-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2022/08/14/suspect-who-stabbed-salman-rushdie-new-york-pleads-not-guilty/10322980002/