The British-Indian author Salman Rushdie is no longer on life support and is now responsive, according to his literary agent Andrew Wylie. The writer was stabbed on a stage in the United States a day before.
The author of The Satanic Verses was attacked on Friday during a lecture in Chautauqua in New York state. According to CNN, he suffered three stab wounds to the neck, four stab wounds to the abdomen, one to the chest, one to his eye, and a cut to his leg. It is likely that the 75-year-old Rushdie will lose his right eye, Wylie reported earlier. The nerves in his arm have also been severely damaged. How Rushdie is doing otherwise, his literary agent did not disclose.
Immediately after the stabbing, a 24-year-old man was arrested. He is suspected of assault and attempted manslaughter. This was reported by the Justice Department in Chautauqua on Saturday. The suspect claims to be innocent. The police and the prosecutor are still investigating the perpetrator's motive. Presumably, the attack has something to do with a fatwa, advice from an Islamic jurist.
This fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the late 1980s. At the time the religious leader from Iran called on Muslims to kill Rushdie. The reason for this was his book The Satanic Verses. This led to numerous death threats against the author and various assassination attempts. The Japanese translator of the book was even murdered.