Salman Rushdie stabbed: Shashi Tharoor says 'sad day but worse would be..."
Salman Rushdie was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident identified as Hadi Matar on stage on Friday while he was being introduced at the event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.
Salman Rushdie stabbing: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he was "utterly horrified and shocked" by the stabbing of Salman Rushdie at an event in the US. As he wished the author a complete recovery from his wounds, the Congress leaders 'calling it a sad day' and added that it would be "worse if creative expression can no longer be free and open."
"Utterly horrified & shocked by the stabbing of @SalmanRushdie. Wish him a speedy & complete recovery from his wounds, even though, with a sinking heart, I recognize that life for him can never be the same again. A sad day, worse if creative expression can no longer be free & open," Tharoor tweeted.
Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident identified as Hadi Matar on stage on Friday while he was being introduced at the event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.
A bloodied Rushdie was airlifted from a field adjacent to the venue to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania where the 75-year-old writer underwent surgery.
The author spent about 10 years under police protection in the United Kingdom, living in hiding after Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s execution.
A bounty of over USD 3 million has been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie, who has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States.