Salman Rushdie, a stabbed author has been taken off a ventilator. He is alert and able talk, his agent said.
Rushdie, 75, was taken to the hospital after being attacked on stage at a conference in Buffalo, New York. According to reports, Rushdie was stabbed as many as 15 times by his attacker. He then took to the stage in front hundreds of people to attack him.
Rushdie’s agent previously informed media that his client was in a critical condition, that he was likely to lose an eye, and had also suffered damage to his arm and his liver.
After the 1988 publication of his novel, the author faced threats to his own life for many decades. The Satanic VersesSome were considered anti-Islamic, blasphemous.
He was forced to go into hiding for many years after Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against the author, with a multi-million dollar bounty on his head.
Meanwhile, the man who stabbed Rushdie has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. He was taken to Chautauqua County Jail, New York.
Press were not permitted to attend the hearing where the suspect was being tried.Hadi MatarAfter pleading guilty, he was remanded in custody without bail.