THE SQUIZ
Sir Salman Rushdie survived a vicious stabbing attack on Friday in New York state. He has been taken off a ventilator and can talk again, his agent Andrew Wylie confirmed yesterday. The author was on stage when he was stabbed around 10 times in the face, neck and abdomen. Rushdie, who is 75yo, remains in a critical condition and is likely to lose an eye. He also has severed nerves in one arm and damage to his liver, Wylie said. Hadi Matar from New Jersey is accused of the attack – he was tackled by spectators and staff members. Matar faced court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges. Prosecutors say it was a premeditated attack with Matar buying an advance pass to the event Rushdie was speaking at. Rushdie was set to address the Chautauqua Institution about the importance of America’s giving asylum to exiled writers.

REMIND ME ABOUT RUSHDIE…
He’s a celebrated author who has won the world’s top literary prizes. His writings also generated death threats… The Indian-born British-American is a lapsed Muslim who had big success early in his career. He took 5 years to write his 2nd book, Midnight’s Children, which won the 1981 Booker Prize. But it was his 4th book – The Satanic Verses, a surrealist novel inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad – that changed his life when it was published in late 1988 when it was seen to be blasphemous by some Muslims. The book was banned in India, Pakistan and many Muslim countries, and there were book-burning protests and riots. And most significantly, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s assassination. The author and his family went into hiding, and foreign language translators of the book were also targeted. In recent years, Rushdie enjoyed more freedoms, even chatting with Bridget Jones… But the threats to his life never went away. Reports this morning say Matar’s social media accounts show support for an extremist form of Islam and Iran’s armed forces.

THAT’S HEAVY…
It’s full-on. So you can see why Rushdie has been at the forefront of the discussion about the West’s preparedness to stand up for freedom of expression – the topic he was getting ready to speak about when he was attacked. Many have come out in support of Rushdie. “In no case is violence a response to words spoken or written by others in their exercise of the freedoms of opinion and expression,” said United Nations boss António Guterres. US President Joe Biden praised the writer for “his refusal to be intimidated or silenced”. In Iran, it was a different story… Rushdie’s people say his recovery will be long, and his injuries are life-changing. But his son Zafar says “his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact.”