Last Update: February 07, 2023, 04:12 IST
“I’m lucky,” Rushdie told The New Yorker. What I really want to say is that my main overwhelming emotion is gratitude.
The 75-year-old was stabbed in the neck and stomach as he stepped on the stage to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. I
Booker Prize-winning Bombay-born author Salman Rushdie posted a picture of himself months after his near-death experience. He said he felt “fortunate and grateful” for narrowly escaping the brutal attack in New York on August 21 last year.
“I’m lucky,” Rushdie told The New Yorker, “What I really want to say is that my main overwhelming emotion is gratitude.”
The 75-year-old was stabbed in the neck and stomach as he stepped on the stage to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. Ironically, he had to talk about the importance of America sheltering exiled writers.
After the release of the acclaimed Satanic Verses in 1989, Rushdie spent several years in hiding under the guise of MI6 and endured numerous death threats. The author has lost the sight of one eye as well as one hand.
The assailant, a 24-year-old Hadi Matar, was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with attempted second-degree murder and attempted second-degree assault. He pleaded not guilty.
Matar was trying to implement a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini.
Speaking to writer David Remnick from The New Yorker, Rushdie said that he solely blamed Peale for the stabbing. “I blame them,” said Rushdie and refused to place any blame on those in charge of security.
“I have tried hard over the years to avoid recrimination and bitterness. I don’t think it’s a good look. One of the ways I can deal with this whole thing is to look forward and not backward. What happened yesterday is more important than yesterday,” he said.
He said that his sons Zafar and Milan helped him overcome the traumatic experience.
He said it was difficult for him to write much these days as he no longer has any feeling in his fingers.
“I’m able to move around. I mean, there are parts of my body that need constant checking. It was a huge assault. I was better. But, considering what happened, I’m not that bad.”
Rushdie’s Victory City is being promoted as an abridged translation of a fictional Sanskrit verse saga.
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