Famed British writer Salman Rushdie is in critical condition in hospital and on a ventilator following a brutal attack in New York state. “The news is not good. Salman is likely to lose an eye, the nerves in his arm have been cut, his liver has been stabbed,” his agent Andrew Wylie said on Friday, Aug. 12.

The attempted murder of 75-year-old Rushdie has caused shock in the United States and around the world. In particular, the attack on the writer was heavily criticized by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres. “Violence is in no way a response to the words that are said or written by others on their right to freedom of expression,” said his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. The UN chief wished the writer a speedy recovery.

Washington strongly condemned the attack on Rushdie, calling it “an unacceptable attack”. “This act of violence is horrendous,” said Jake Sullivan, a US presidential security adviser. The entire US government is praying for the writer’s speedy recovery, he said, and thanked the citizens and first responders who helped victims of the attack.

Berlin: Rushdie’s blood is in the hands of the Iranian regime

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that Rushdie “for 33 years has personified freedom and the struggle against obscurantism” and “has been the victim of a cowardly attack carried out by the forces of hatred and barbarism”. “His fight is our fight,” he emphasized, adding that the West “is now more than ever on his side.”

Suzanne Nossel, president of the PEN America Writers Association, said she “does not know of a similar case of public attack on a writer on American soil.” “We fervently hope and believe that this irreplaceable voice cannot be silenced,” she wrote. For his part, writer Stephen King expressed the hope that “all will be well with Salman Rushdie”.

Germany’s Minister of Culture and Media Claudia Roth (Claudia Roth) announced an invasion of freedom of literature and thought. Rushdie’s blood is not only in the hands of the aggressor, “but especially in the hands of the Iranian regime, which to this day does not renounce the terrible fatwa against him”, she emphasized.

Attack on Salman Rushdie

On August 12, Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck after being attacked on stage before starting a performance at the Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York. The assailant, a 24-year-old man, was captured by the participants of the event and handed over to the police, his motives are still unknown. Rushdie was airlifted to the hospital. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. Apparently, the attacker acted alone.

Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, written in 1988, caused outrage among many Muslims who saw the book as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini publicly cursed Rushdie in his fatwa and sentenced him to death. A multi-million bounty has been announced for Rushdie’s head in Iran. For a long time the writer was forced into hiding, his book was banned in several countries. For several years, Rushdie was under constant surveillance by Scotland Yard agents. In 2002, the British government received tacit assurances from Iran for the writer’s safety, and the protection was withdrawn.