Rushdie, whose 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran’s leaders in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen on Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York. Louise Dennys, executive vice-president and publisher of Penguin Random House Canada, has published and edited Rushdie’s writings for more than 30 years. She condemned the attack on her long-time friend and colleague as “cowardly” and “reprehensible in every way”. “He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest advocates of freedom of thought and speech and debate and discussion in the world today,” Dennis said in a telephone interview. “I’m hopeful for his recovery. He’s a great warrior and fighter and I hope he fights back.” Rushdie, an Indian who has since lived in Britain and the US, is known for his surreal and satirical prose style. “The Satanic Verses” was considered blasphemous by many Muslims for its dream sequence based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. The book had already been banned and burned in India, Pakistan and elsewhere before Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Investigators were working to determine whether the perpetrator, who was born a decade after “The Satanic Verses” was published, acted alone. Police said the motive for Friday’s attack was unclear. Following the publication of “The Satanic Verses”, often violent protests broke out across the Muslim world against Rushdie. At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 in Rushdie’s hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the book’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived. Death threats prompted Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection scheme, although he cautiously resumed public appearances after nine years in seclusion, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall. “We all depend on the storytelling, the power and the imagination of writers. He came out of hiding because he realized he wanted to play a role in the world we live in, defending those rights,” Dennis said. “He couldn’t be silenced by fear and I think that point is something he will continue to do if, as we all hope, he survives,” he said. Dennis said the attack is already backfiring its suspected intentions, given support from the international literary community, as well as activists and government officials, who cited Rushdie’s courage in his long-standing defense of free speech despite the risks to his own safety. “It brought everyone together to realize how precious and fragile our freedoms are and how important it is to talk about them,” Dennis said. The president of PEN Canada, an organization that defends writers’ freedom of expression, condemned the “savage attack” on their “friend and colleague” Rushdie, who is a member. Canadian writer John Ralston Saul, who has known Rushdie since the 1990s, said the writer always knew someone could attack him, but chose to live publicly to speak out against those trying to silence free expression and discussion. “(Rushdy’s) work and his whole life is a reminder of what the public writer’s life really is,” he said. “This would be the worst possible time to back down or show any sense of being more careful with our words. We’re not really writers if we give in to these kinds of threats.” Rushdie’s alleged assailant, Hadi Matar, was arrested after the attack at the Chautauqua Foundation, a non-profit training and retreat center. Matar’s lawyer pleaded not guilty in a New York court on Saturday to charges of attempted murder and assault. After the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn’t tighter security for the event, given the threats against Rushdie and the bounty on his head that offered more than $3 million for whoever killed him. Saul, who spoke at the Chautauqua Foundation years before Rushdie’s attack, said it has an “open tradition” of debate, free expression and anti-violence that goes back 100 years. “It’s one of the freest places to exercise our belief in freedom,” he said. Toronto International Writers Festival director Roland Gulliver tweeted Saturday that literary festivals and book events are “spaces for expression, to tell your stories with friendship, safety and respect.” “Seeing this so violently broken is incredibly shocking,” he wrote. Expressions of support also came from the political sphere, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemning the attack as a “cowardly … strike against freedom of expression.” “No one should be threatened or harmed based on what they have written,” read a statement posted on Trudeau’s official Twitter account. “I wish him a speedy recovery.” Rushdie, 75, suffered liver damage, severed nerves in his hand and is likely to lose an eye as a result of the attack, Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie said on Friday night. A doctor who witnessed the attack and was among those who rushed to help described Rushdie’s injuries as “serious but recoverable”. With files from the Associated Press. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 13, 2022.
Literary festivals and book events are places of community, celebration and sharing. Spaces of expression, to tell your stories in friendship, safety and respect. To see this so violently broken is incredibly shocking. https://t.co/oeUAO58en6 — Roland Gulliver (@RolandGulliver) August 13, 2022 The brazen attack on Salman Rushdie is a blow to the freedom of expression on which our world is built. No one should be threatened or harmed based on what they have written. I wish him a speedy recovery. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 13, 2022
