Writer Salman Rushdie Has Lost Sight In One Eye And Use Of One Hand After August Knife Attack

Celebrated Indian-origin British-American writer Salman Rushdie who was left in critical condition after he became the victim of a knife attack in August has lost sight in an eye and his one hand is incapacitated, his literary agent said.

According to Andrew Wylie, the agent of Rushdie, the writer "is going to live¡­That's the more important thing".

Reuters

Rushdie attacked on stage by Lebabies-origin man

Rushdie's wounds ¡°were profound, but he's [also] lost the sight of one eye... He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack,¡± Wylie told the Spanish newspaper El Pa¨ªs.

75-year-old Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and stomach on stage in front of a stunned audience by 24-year-old New Jersey resident Hadi Matar, a US national of Lebanese origin.

Reuters

The Booker Prize-winning author was getting ready to speak at a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York when the attack took place.

Under constant threats since 1989

Rushdie, whose most celebrated works include The Satanic Verses, and Midnight's Children has been facing threats to his life from Islamists.

In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the Supreme Leader of Iran had issued a ¡®fatwa' calling for his death following the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses.

AP

Khomeini's fatwa against Rushdie is widely seen as a pivotal point in history and has inspired similar threats and violence against others including the Danish Newspaper over the Prophet Muhammad cartoon and the terror attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

After the death threats, Rushdie spent years in hiding and only made public appearances rarely.

Following the attack on Rushdie in August, which triggered global condemnation Iran denied any links with the attacker.

Rushdie was born in Mumbai in 1947. He was sent to boarding school in England before studying at the University of Cambridge. In 2007, he was knighted for services to literature.

India condemned the attack after two weeks

Despite the global outrage it caused, India was one of the last countries to condemn the despicable act.

Reuters

Only two weeks after the attack, India condemned the ¡°horrific attack¡± and wished him a speedy recovery.

¡°India has always stood against violence and extremism. We condemn the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie and we wish him a speedy recovery,¡± External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a weekly media briefing.

The controversial book, The Satanic Verses was banned in India in 1988, even before the Iranian fatwa, thus becoming the first country in the world to do so. It remains banned in India even now.

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