Salman Rushdie off ventilator, improving

New York, August 14

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Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and is talking, the president of Chautauqua Institution, where the Mumbai-born author was stabbed at an event onstage, said.

“Salman Rushdie is off ventilator and is talking! Continued prayers from all,” Chautauqua Institution president Michael Hill said in a tweet.

Rushdie, 75, was on a ventilator after he was stabbed by 24-year-old Hadi Matar onstage at an event on Friday at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.

Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, also confirmed on Sunday that the acclaimed author was off the ventilator and was improving. “The road to recovery has begun. It will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction.” The suspect, Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault at a court appearance on Saturday. Meanwhile, award-winning filmmaker Aparna Sen has urged the Indian Government to lift the ban on Rushdie’s controversial book “The Satanic Verses”.

“I condemn the unconstitutional banning of The Satanic Verses by the Congress with its appeasement policies. I urge the government in power to lift the ban and honour our Constitution on the 75th anniversary of our Independence,” Sen tweeted on Sunday.

Author JK Rowling has received a death threat (saying don’t worry, you are next) on Twitter after she condemned the attack on Rushdie. — Agencies