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.
