On Wednesday, 24-year-old accused Hadi Matar who stabbed British Author Salman Rushdie lauded Iran’s former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in an exclusive jailhouse interview with the New York Post. He called the leader a ‘great person’ in an interview that got published on August 17.
According to the reports, Matar while speaking to the interviewer said that he never thought that a British Author is a good person. “He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems”, he said. Admitting that he had severely stabbed the author, he was surprised to know that Rushdie was still alive. “When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess”, he said while in the Chautauqua County Jail.
Praising Iran’s former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the accused said, “I respect the Ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s as far as I will say about that. I don’t like Salman Rushdie. He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems”, he stated. In the video interview, he also said that he had watched Rushdie’s videos earlier and that he never liked him. “I saw a lot of lectures. I don’t like people who are disingenuous like that”, he noted.
He also referred to the book written by Rushdie named ‘The Satanic Verses’ and reiterated that the author had disrespected the religion of Islam. Talking about the attack, he said that he had read only a couple of pages of the book and not cover to cover. He said, on August 13, he took a bus to Buffalo, New York, and ordered a taxi to Chautauqua.
“I was hanging around pretty much. Not doing anything in particular, just walking around,” he was quoted as saying. He said he had slept on the grass the night before. Reports mention that Matar is doing well since he has been arrested for stabbing the 75-year-old author. However, he has complained about the food that is being provided to him in the prison. “A lot of the food they have given me is not allowed in my religion to eat”, he noted.
Earlier on August 15, Iranian media had extensively gloated over the attack and had called it ‘divine retribution’. Reacting to the media reports that Rushdie may lose one eye following the attack, Iran’s state broadcaster Jaam-e Jam said, “An eye of Satan has been blinded. Also, Nasser Kanaani Tehran, foreign ministry spokesperson of Iran blamed Rushdie for the attack and said, “In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation. By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people”.
To note, Khomeini in the year 1989 had issued a fatwa to kill Rushdie. Also, multiple assassination attempts have been made on the Indian-born author’s life since then. The most recent happened last Friday when Matar attacked Rushdie in New York as he was ready to participate in an artistic freedom event.
