Statement on Salman Rushdie assault taken out of context: Former Pak PM Imran Khan

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday claimed that his remarks in a British newspaper concerning the tried homicide of Mumbai-born writer Salman Rushdie had been “taken out of context”.

Rushdie, 75, was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident recognized as Hadi Matar, a US nationwide of Lebanese origin, on stage final week whereas he was being launched at a literary occasion of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.

He suffered three stab wounds to his neck, 4 stab wounds to his abdomen, puncture wounds to his proper eye and chest, and a laceration on his proper thigh, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt mentioned through the suspect’s arraignment.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Khan condemned the knife assault on Rushdie, claiming that the anger of Muslims towards the writer was comprehensible however did not justify the assault.

“I think it is terrible, sad,” Imran instructed the publication in a touch upon the violent assault that put Rushdie on a ventilator.

However, the official Twitter account for the Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman (PTI), clarified that Imran’s assertion was “taken out of context”, and that he had refused to attend a seminar in India in 2012 as a result of Rushdie was additionally invited, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

“In the interview, I explained the Islamic method of punishing blasphemers,” he mentioned.

The PTI chief maintained that he had given the instance of the Sialkot tragedy and had spoken of Rushdie in an analogous context. Imran was referring to the brutal lynching of a Sri Lankan man in Sialkot over blasphemy allegations, the report mentioned.

“Rushdie understood because he came from a Muslim family. He knows the love, respect, and reverence of the prophet that lives in our hearts. He knew that. So, the anger I understood, but you can’t justify what happened,” the PTI chief had acknowledged earlier in his interview with The Guardian.

Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim Kashmiri household, has lived with a bounty on his head and spent 9 years in hiding beneath British police safety.

Rushdie’s fourth guide ‘The Satanic Verses’, launched in 1988, pressured him into hiding for 9 years.

The late Iranian chief Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini accused Rushdie of blasphemy over the guide and in 1989 issued a fatwa towards him, calling for his loss of life. Rushdie’s writing has led to loss of life threats from Iran, which has provided a USD 3 million reward for anybody who kills him.

READ | Salman Rushdie attacker ‘surprised’ writer survived

READ | ‘Barbaric, stunning’: Voices in solidarity with Salman Rushdie

— ENDS —