Indian American model, TV host, chef and activist, Padma Lakshmi, took to Twitter to wish her former husband and Indian-born controversial writer and author Salman Rushdie a speedy recovery after his near fatal stabbing during an event in New York.
Lakshmi and Rushdie tied the knot in 2004 and lived together for 5 years until filing for divorce in 2007. Few short days after the stabbing Lakshmi tweeted: “Relieved @SalmanRushdie is pulling through after Friday’s nightmare. Worried and wordless, can finally exhale. Now hoping for swift healing.”
On August 12, Rushdie was preparing to speak at an event in Chautauqua, NY when a man later identified as Hadi Matar allegedly ran on stage and stabbed Rushdie in the neck. Matar has since been charged with second-degree murder in which he has pled not guilty.
For the last 25 years, the Indian-British author has been living in secrecy and with immense security due the fatwa or bounty originally placed by Iran’s supreme leader Mohammad Khatami in 1998. Though Mr. Rushdie made his reputation in 1981 with “Midnight’s Children,” a novel of India’s transition from British rule to independence, it was his book, “The Satanic Verses,” that made him a target of censorship.
Some Muslims regarded the novel’s references to the prophet Muhammad as offensive — even blasphemous. It was burned or banned in several countries but things really escalated when the then-supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, called upon all Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie.
Rushdie is currently recovering and expected to make a full recovery.
