NEW YORK: Salman Rushdie was on the road to recovery on Sunday, two days after an assault in New York state left him on a ventilator with multiple stab wounds.

Just hours after Friday’s attack at a literary event, the British author had undergone emergency surgery for potentially life-threatening injuries.

But his condition, while still serious, has since shown signs of improvement and he no longer requires assisted breathing, according to his family and literary agent.

“He’s off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun,” agent Andrew Wylie said in a statement. “It will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction.”

The suspected assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey, was wrestled to the ground by staff and other audience members before being taken into police custody.

He was later arraigned in court and pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges. Police and prosecutors have provided scant information about Matar’s background or the possible motivation behind the attack.

Matar’s family appears to come from Yaroun, a village in southern Lebanon, but he was born in the United States, according to a Lebanese official.

Hadi Matar is being held without bail and has been formally charged with second-degree attempted murder and assault with a weapon.

‘Online threat’ to J.K. Rowling

Scottish police said on Sunday they were investigating an apparent “online threat” made to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in response to her tweet supporting Salman Rushdie following his stabbing.

“We have received a report of an online threat being made and officers are carrying out inquiries,” said a police spokeswoman. The 57-year-old Rowling tweeted on Friday that she was “feeling very sick right now” as news broke of the attack on Salman Rushdie. In response, a user tweeted “Don’t worry you are next”.

Rowling shared a screenshot of the reply, asking Twitter moderators “any chance of some support?” “These are your guidelines, right? `Violence: You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people’,” she added.

The tweet appeared to have been taken down on Sunday. The author also tweeted that police had been informed. The same Twitter account, believed to be based in Pakistan, also posted messages praising Rushdie’s attacker.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2022