Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Aug 18: In an interview with the New York Post that was published on Wednesday, the New Jersey man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie said that he was “surprised” the author had survived the attack.
“When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess,” said Hadi Matar.
The alleged attacker, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, did not specify whether he was motivated by the 1989 fatwa, or edict, issued by Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ordering Muslims to kill the author for what he believed to be the book “The Satanic Verses'” blasphemous content.
“I respect the ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s as far as I will say about that,” said Matar.
Matar claimed that he had no communication with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He said that earlier this year, Rushdie’s appearance at the Chautauqua Institution’s literary series was announced via a tweet. He claimed to have taken a bus to Buffalo the day before the incident, then a Lyft to Chautauqua, according to The Washington Post.
Rushdie was scheduled to speak as part of a lecture series last Friday when a guy stormed the stage and stabbed him multiple times in the neck and abdomen.Rushdie’s injuries required immediate surgery at a local hospital after he was transported there. Although the 75-year-health old’s is still grave, he was taken off a ventilator and has made progress.
Matar told the Post that he had seen Rushdie speak on YouTube and described the writer as “disingenuous.”
