‘Appalling, reprehensible’: UN Secretary General, US National Security Advisor on assault on Salman Rushdie

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and US National Security Advisor James Sullivan expressed shock and grief on the assault on famend author Salman Rushdie, calling it “appalling” and “reprehensible”.

“Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is appalling,” Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to US President Joe Biden, mentioned.

“All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing,” he added in an announcement.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres acknowledged that he was “appalled” to be taught concerning the assault, saying that in no case is violence a response to phrases spoken or written by others of their train of the freedoms of opinion and expression.

“The Secretary-General was appalled to learn of the attack on renowned novelist Salman Rushdie,” an announcement issued on Friday by his spokesperson mentioned. “In no case is violence a response to words spoken or written by others in their exercise of the freedoms of opinion and expression,” Guterres mentioned, conveying his needs for Rushdie’s early restoration.

Rushdie, who confronted dying threats for years after writing “The Satanic Verses”, was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident, recognized as Hadi Matar, on Friday whereas he was being launched on the occasion of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.

Rushdie was airlifted from a subject adjoining to the venue to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania the place the 75-year-old author underwent surgical procedure. Rushdie, who gained the Booker Prize for his novel “Midnight’s Children”, was unable to talk.

“Rushdie will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” the author’s agent Andrew Wylie informed The New York Times.