The renowned author, 75, was attacked and stabbed on stage at a literary festival at New York State’s Chautauqua Institution Friday.
In a family statement Sunday, Zafar Rushdie said his father remained in critical condition in the hospital “receiving extensive ongoing medical treatment.”
“We are extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and additional oxygen and he was able to say a few words,” says Zafar’s statement. “Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty & defiant sense of humor remains intact.”
Rushdie’s literary agent Andrew Wylie told the Associated Press that theSatanic Versesauthor was “on the road to recovery.”
Joshua Goodman/AP
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New York State Policetook Matar into custody after the attack, according to theAssociated Press.
Salman Rushdie.David Levenson/Getty
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The novel, which featured a fictional interpretation of the Prophet Mohammed and the Quran, drew backlash from the Muslim community. Khomeini, who died later in 1989, subsequently issued a fatwā (a ruling on Islamic law) for his assassination, offering a bounty for whoever kills him.
Rushdie went into hiding for nearly a decade until the Iranian government said in 1998 that it would no longer enforce the fatwā, although it remained active.
source: people.com
