Islamabad: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the attack on Salman Rushdie was “unjustifiable”.
In an interview with an English news agency, Imran Khan said that the anger caused in the Islamic world by Salman Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verse” was understandable, but it could not justify the assault.
When asked for his response on the New York knife attack on Rushdie, Imran Khan said, “I think it’s terrible, sad.”
“Rushdie understood, because he came from a Muslim family. He knows the love, respect, reverence of a prophet that lives in our hearts. He knew that,” Khan said. “So the anger I understood, but you can’t justify what happened.”
Khan, although vocal about the reverence and respect of the Prophet (P.B.U.H), denunciates assault.
Ten years ago, Imran Khan pulled out of an event in India because Rushdie would also be appearing, and the two men exchanged insults, but Khan does not appear to have expressed support for violent action against the Indian-born author.
“His denunciation of the attack is striking, however, in a region where most politicians have ducked comment.”
Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage
Last week, British author Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and torso onstage at a lecture in New York state on Friday.
After hours of surgery, Rushdie was put on a ventilator and was unable to speak.
Rushdie, 75, was propelled into the spotlight with his second novel, Midnight’s Children, in 1981, which won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India.
But his 1988 book The Satanic Verses brought attention beyond his imagination when he was forced to go underground.
