People
Indian-born British-American writer Salman Rushdie does not see allegedly religiously motivated killers as representing his faith, as he explained in an interview with the BBC.
07.13.2023 09.02
Online since today, 9:02 am
“The type of person who goes out and chooses violence, in my view, is not a representative of that religion, but a representative of violence and needs to be treated accordingly.” Nearly a year after a failed assassination attempt on his life, in which Rushdie lost an eye and sustained other injuries, he is “more or less fine”, the 76-year-old said.
Mentally though, he was still processing the incident. “I have crazy dreams,” he said. But he has a good therapist. Rushdie was attacked and seriously injured by an assailant with a knife during a lecture in the United States last August. He has been blind in one eye ever since.
Rushdie: “Important to move on with my life”
The attack comes more than 30 years after Iran’s former revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for the murder of Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses, in 1989. According to the ayatollah, Rushdie had slandered the prophet Islamic Mohammed. Rushdie is now writing a book about the failed assassination attempt.
APA/AFP/Timothy A. Clary Salman Rushdie at an event following the failed assassination attempt
Rushdie said he was conflicted about whether he wanted to attend the killer’s trial. “There’s a part of me that really wants to go to court and look at this, and there’s another part of me that just doesn’t.” It’s more important for him to get on with his life.