Rushdie in critical condition but off ventilator, says his son
New York, Aug 14 (EFE).- Writer Salman Rushdie is in “critical condition” after being stabbed but he has been off the ventilator since Saturday, his family said in a statement on Sunday.
“My father remains in critical condition in hospital after receiving extensive ongoing treatment,” his son Zafar Rushie wrote on Twitter.
“We are extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and additional oxygen and he was able to say a few words,” the younger Rushdie added.
“Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty & defiant sense of humor remains intact,” he continued.
The Indian-born British-American writer was at a literary event in upstate New York on Friday when he was allegedly stabbed by Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old man from New Jersey.
The US-born Matar, the son of Lebanese immigrants, remains in custody and faces charges of attempted second-degree murder and armed assault.
The author has been the subject of death threats for years due to a 1989 “fatwa” – an Islamic legal decree – issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s then-supreme leader, calling for Rushdie’s assassination in response to his book “The Satanic Verses,” which many Muslims regard as blasphemous and insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.
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