‘Stand with Salman: Defend the Freedom to Right’ was hosted by literary and advocacy group Pen America on August 19, directed by Rushdie as president, his publisher Penguin Random House, the New York Public Library and the House of SpeakEasy was. It was a special solidarity event that brought writers, activists and friends together in support of Rushdie.
Writers, writers, artists, and members of the literary community, including Tina Brown, Kiran Desai, Asif Mandvi, and Reginald Dwayne Bates, read some of Rushdie’s most famous works and wished the 75-year-old Booker Prize winner a speedy recovery .
PEN said through the event that writers around the world stand in solidarity with Rushdie and “celebrate his tireless advocacy for freedom of expression and the plight of writers at risk around the world.”
“When a would-be assassin knelt on Salman Rushdie’s neck, he pierced far more than the flesh of a famous writer. He cut through time, shocking us all to recognize that the horrors of the past overshadow the present. It’s haunting,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of Penn America, at the start of the event.
He added that Rushdie “has been a relentless, relentless champion of words and writers attacked for the perceived guilt of his work. Today, we celebrate Salman for what he has endured, but more importantly, for what he has endured.” Whatever he has created – stories, characters, metaphors and images he has given to the world.”
Furthermore, Penguin Random House CEO Marcus Dohle said in a statement that “Rushdie’s voice and literary works are inextricably linked to the advancement of freedom of expression, and attacking them is a horrific and unconscious act of violence.”
“It is an honor for us to publish the stellar works of Salman and to stand with him and with the entire literary community as we remind the world of the power and necessity of the written word,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and stomach by 24-year-old New Jersey man Hadi Matar on stage, just before the “Satanic Verses” writer was about to speak at an event at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. , He was taken to a local trauma center and put on a ventilator and underwent several hours of surgery. Matar was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and assault. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and remained in the Chautauqua County Jail.
With inputs from PTI