Salman Rushdie stabbing: Kangana condemns “appalling act by Jihadi’s”

Washington: Attack on author Salman Rushdie has evoked widespread condemnation from people across the world. Like many, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut also took to social media to express anger over the shocking incident.

Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen at a literary event in New York, US, on Friday. He is currently on ventilator. Law enforcement officials have identified the attacker as a 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who reportedly hails from New Jersey.

Calling the assailant “jihadi”, Kangana wrote, “Another day another appalling act by jihadis. The Satanic Verses is one of the greatest books of its time… I am shaken beyond words. Apalling.” The 75-year-old, who was born in Bombay, has faced Islamist death threats for years for writing the novel ‘The Satanic Verses’. The book was banned shortly after publication in several countries, including India, and triggered a fatwa against Rushdie by Iran’s then Supreme Leader.

The author’s agent said that nerves of his arm have been severely damaged and due to the stabbing his liver is also damaged and according to his present medical condition post the attack he could also lose an eye.

“The news is not good,” Andrew Wylie, his agent, wrote in an email. “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged.” The interviewer with Salman Rushdie was also attacked during the incident and he suffered a minor head injury, the police said.

Several literary figures and public officials reacted to the attack on Salman Rushdie.

“Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend. Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet.

Khaled Hosseini, an American novelist said that he will pray for his recovery. Calling him an essential voice, Hosseini said that he is horrified by this attack on Rushdie.” Salman Rushdie came into the limelight with his second novel “Midnight’s Children” in 1981. The book won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India.