Former Liberal Party of Canada leader Michael Ignatieff, who is a friend of Rushdie’s and has known him since 1984, told CTV News Channel that he felt a personal reaction of “sadness, disappointment and anger” after learning of the incident. He considers such an attack a threat to freedom of thought. “I just think bigotry is a danger to free expression everywhere,” he said. “It is a danger for every writer and every free thinker. We must stand against him wherever he rears his head.” Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, drew death threats from Iran’s leaders, who viewed the book as blasphemy against the Islamic faith and offered a reward for its author’s death. Rushdie was stabbed multiple times in the neck and abdomen on Friday and was rushed to hospital. “I just think this is an example of the ways in which a young man, possibly drawn into American society, believed that his life had purpose if he carried out a religious warrant for an execution,” Ignatieff said. “That’s what’s dangerous about the future — that there will be other people who think their lives will suddenly have meaning if they can execute the same warrant that was set 30 or more years ago.” Ignatieff believes the attack is a painful reminder of what is at stake and what, he said, must be protected. “What we have to defend here is the right of a word artist to use words to raise any issue,” he said. “Every single belief, every dogma, including mine, should be subject to criticism, comedy, good jokes, bad jokes. This is how freedom thrives.” Ignatieff said that blasphemy, as a concept, “should not exist.” “I respect people who live their faith,” he said. “I respect them as individuals. But I have no obligation to respect their faith whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim or, you know, Liberal Secular. I am not bound to respect a faith. I am required to respect people. And I do. Whatever their faith. And I think that’s the distinction we should keep.” The former leader of the Liberal Party added that “every belief must be challenged. And that’s what he’s fought for and that’s what he’s advocated for. And for that [Rushdie] he has paid the price he paid.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed the severity of the attack. “The brazen attack on Salman Rushdie is a blow to the freedom of expression our world is built on,” he tweeted on Saturday. “No one should be threatened or harmed based on what they have written. I wish him a speedy recovery.”
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
