Salman Rushdie has lost sight in one eye and the use of one of his hands after he was brutally stabbed while preparing to deliver a lecture in western New York state in August, his agent has revealed.
The Indian-born British-American novelist, whose book The Satanic Verses triggered a wave of controversy after its publication in 1988 for its depiction of the prophet Muhammad, was stabbed around 12 times on stage at the Chautauqua Institution two months ago.
Iran’s former spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on the author one year after the book’s publication, prompting Sir Salman to spend years in hiding.
The extent of Sir Salman’s injuries had, until now, been unclear. But in a new interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, his agent Andrew Wylie said the 75-year-old had “lost the sight of one eye” after a man rushed onto the stage and stabbed him.
“He had three serious wounds in his neck,” he said. “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.”
Mr Wylie declined to say whether Sir Salman remained in hospital, instead saying that the more important thing was that he was “going to live”.
Mr Wylie said an attack “was probably something that Salman and I have discussed in the past”.
“The principal danger that he faced so many years after the fatwa was imposed is from a random person coming out of nowhere and attacking him,” he said.
“So, you can’t protect against that because it’s totally unexpected and illogical. It was like John Lennon’s murder.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Wylie was asked how he felt about Art Spielgelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus being banned in some schools in the United States.
“You know, that’s the religious right behaving as they behave,” he replied. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ludicrous. It’s shameful. But it’s a big force in the country now.”
Hadi Matar, 24, was detained after pleading not guilty to the attempted murder and assault of Sir Salman. If convicted, Matar faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
