‘Rushdie loses sight in eye after knife attack’


Salman Rushdie has lost sight in an eye and his one hand is incapacitated following the brutal knife attack on the acclaimed Mumbai-born author in August, his literary agent said.Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing “The Satanic Verses” book, was stabbed in the neck and stomach on stage in front of a stunned audience by 24-year-old New Jersey resident Hadi Matar, a US national of Lebanese origin.The attack on 75-year-old Booker Prize-winning author came as he was getting ready to speak at a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.Rushdie’s wounds were profound, but he’s [also] lost the sight of one eye… He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack, his literary agent Andrew Wylie told the Spanish-language newspaper El Pa s in an interview.When asked if Rushdie was still in the hospital, Wylie said he cannot give any information about the celebrated author’s whereabouts.He’s going to live That’s the more important thing, he said.He was asked if the attack on Rushdie so many years after the fatwa was issued against him meant that we’re living at a particularly dangerous time for freedom of expression in the world.