Salman Rushdie Attack: Attempt to murder & book ban

16 Aug 2022  Read 1400 Views

Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay on 19 June 1947, During British Rule, into a Kashmiri Muslim that is an Indian family. He could be the son of Anis Ahmed Rushdie, a lawyer-turned-businessman who is Cambridge educated. Rushdie's father was dismissed through the Indian Civil Services (ICS) Rushdie has three sisters. Rushdie grew up in Bombay and was educated in the Cathedral and John Connon School in Fort, South Bombay; before moving to England, he attended Rugby School in Rugby.

Who is Salman Rushdie?

He is an Indian-Born British-American novelist. His work often combines magical realism with historical fiction and primarily relates to connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set in the Indian subcontinent. Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to become "the best novel of all of the winners" Rushdie became the subject of controversy, provoking protests and debates about the roles of freedom of expression and political violence after his fourth novel. Death threats were made against him, including a fatwa calling for his assassination issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran, in 1989. The British government kept Rushdie under police protection which he was forced into hiding. In 2008, the occasion ranked him 13 on selecting the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the US. Earlier, he taught at Emory University.

How was Rushdie's personal life?

Rushdie has married four times. He had been married to his first wife, Clarissa Luard, a Literature officer associated with the Arts Council of England; from 1976 to 1987, he had a son, Zafar (born 1979), then He left Clarissa Luard within the mid-1980s when it comes to the writer that is Australian Davidson, to whom he had been introduced by their mutual friend Bruce Chatwin. His second wife was the American Novelist Marianne Wiggins; they were married in 1988 and divorced in 1993. From 1997 to 2004, his third wife was British editor and author Elizabeth West; they have a son, Milan (born 1997). In 2004, he married Padma Lakshmi, an Indian-American actress, model, and host associated with the American reality television show Top Chef. An Indian-American The marriage ended in 2007.

How did the first assassination attempt fail (1989)?

The Bomb exploded prematurely, destroying two floors of the hotel and killing Mazeh on 3 August 1989, while Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh was priming a book bomb loaded with RDX explosive in a hotel in Paddington, Central London. A previously unknown Lebanese group, the Organization associated with Mujahidin of Islam, said he died preparing an attack "on the Rushdie". There was a shrine in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery for Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh that says he had been "Martyred in London, 3 August 1989. The first martyr to die on a mission to kill Salman Rushdie." Mazeh's mother was invited to relocate to Iran, in addition to Islamic World Movement of Martyrs' 

What happened in the Salman Rushdie recent case?

Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born author whose British writing resulted in death threats from Iran when you look at the 1980s. He was stabbed as he was going to give a lecture in southwestern on 12 August  2022. New York Police confirmed Rushdie was stabbed “at least once during the neck, and also at least once in the abdomen” an assailant rushed to the stage and lunged at the writer, that is 75-year-old while he was being introduced to the audience 

After being airlifted to the hospital, where he spent hours in surgery, Rushdie was on a ventilator and struggling to speak on Friday evening. “The news just isn't good,” Andrew Wylie, his book agent, wrote in a contact to your Reuters news agency. “Salman will probably lose one eye; his liver was stabbed and damaged.” Police identified the suspect as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey.

People, who witnessed the attack, told The Associated Press and news agencies that Rushdie was stabbed 6- 8  times before the attacker was restrained.“Nobody knew how to proceed. Nobody knew how exactly to react. Suddenly “A man jumped onto the stage and started Stabbing him brutally before the audience. A New York state police were providing security at the big event and arrested the attacker, and a doctor from the audience helped Rushdie until emergency services arrived.

What is Rushdie’s condition now?

Salman Rushdie was airlifted to the hospital where he spent hours in surgery; he is on a ventilator and struggling to speak.“The news just isn't good,” but now, on 13 August 2022, he was taken off from the ventilator and able to speak now. He is on the street to recover soon.

Who is the attacker?

  • Police identified the suspect as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey.

  • New York police told reporters that officials would not have any indication of a motive at this early stage of the investigation.

  • The New York police said Hadi Matar acted alone in this Criminal Offence. 

Salman Rushdie Attack- What is a fatwa?

  • Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses was banned in Iran and other countries because many Muslims consider it disrespectful.

  • In 1989, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued an Order for Rushdie’s death.

  • Iran’s government has distanced itself through the order, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. “The fatwa is one of the Ayatollah and cannot be rescinded because of the state based on Iranian practice, In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation had increased the total amount on offer for the writer’s killing from $2.8M  to $3.3M.

In an interview conducted just weeks before he was stabbed and seriously wounded, Author Salman Rushdie said his life was now “relatively normal” after having lived in hiding for years because of death threats He also called himself an optimist and noted that the fatwa that is religious in Iran in 1989 that called on Muslims around the world to kill him for disrespecting was pronounced long ago. He has long faced death threats for his fourth novel, ‘The Satanic Verses,’ most prominently from Iran’s powerful leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who had pronounced a fatwa calling upon Muslims to kill the writer 

Conclusion

We can say that Salman Rushdie was attacked for his novel 'The Satanic Verses' published in 1988. We don’t think there is a particular moment. It was gradual, and it is believed that the greater amount of time passed, Rushdie’s other books felt safe to market. Several years after the fatwa was issued after Khomeini passed on, it simply wasn’t a way to obtain discussion. The best indication is that the issue was resolved Rushdie started to travel without much security because, in the general sense, it was an issue that has been in past times.

About the Author: Shivam Pathak | 23 Post(s)

Shivam is pursuing a BA. LL. B (HONS.) 5-year integrated course from Amity University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. With a core interest in Criminal and Civil Law, his hobbies are reading books and listening to songs in his free time.

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