Six months after surviving a deadly attack on his life, author Salman Rushdie on Monday tweeted a picture of him that carry the remnants of the fateful incident but also give a glimpse into his unbroken spirit.
The caption accompanying the picture revealed to the world how Rushdie, who lost vision in one eye because of an attack by a Muslim fanatic in New York’s Chautauqua Institution in August, looks presently. Not only has Rushdie recovered from attack which left him with a damaged right eye and left hand, he is back with a new – Victory City -the initial reviews of which have been positive.
In the selfie, Rushdie, 75, is seen flaunting his regular glasses. The glass concealing his damaged eye is covered with black tint.
This photo seems to have vanished from my tweets. Here it is again, just for the record. pic.twitter.com/nqt34gIuRW
— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) February 7, 2023
Rushdie has lived with the spectre of death for over three decades now. After the release of his controversial book ‘The Satanic Verses‘ (1988) and the issuance of the infamous fatwa by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989 for insulting Islam, Rushdie has lived in exile in different parts of the world. Since, 2000 he has lived in New York, USA.
On August 11, 2011, Rushdie was all set to deliver a lecture on artistic freedom in New York when his assailant Hadi Matar rushed to the stage and repeatedly stabbed the Indian-origin writer. His right eye was damaged. He also sustained severe injuries in left hand.
Matar, who has pleaded not guilty, is of Lebanese origin. He has been charged with murder and currently lodged in Chautauqua County Jail. The offences he has been charged with could get him over 30 years of imprisonment.
Recently, a quote attributed to him on Islam and his attacker went viral. The quote said, “All religions are not same because they have not codified death to whoever doesn’t believe in their religion. On my life I want to warn the world that Islam will not rest till every other society, culture, and religion is either annihilated or converted.” However, Rushdie denied making such a comment on Twitter page. In fact, the author has responded with a great deal of nonchalance when asked to opine about his attacker. In a recent interview with an international publication, Rushdie dismissed Matar as nothing more than an “idiot” and someone he didn’t know anything about.