An Iranian foundation has promised a man accused of having attacked novelist Salman Rushdie 1,000 square metres of agricultural land, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The offer was made by the Foundation to Implement Imam Khomeini’s Fatwas, the news agency reported citing state television.
“We sincerely thank the brave action of the young American who made Muslims happy by blinding one of Rushdie’s eyes and disabling one of his hands,” said Mohammad Esmail Zarei, secretary of the foundation.
“Rushdie is now no more than living dead and, to honour this brave action, about 1,000 square metres of agricultural land will be donated to the person or any of his legal representatives,” he said, according to Reuters.
The writer was stabbed several times during a public appearance in New York on August 12, 2022. The attack had left Rushdie blinded in his right eye, and with injuries in his hand that have made it difficult for him to type or even write.
The police had arrested the alleged attacker from the scene and identified him as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey.
The Indian-born British author, had faced death threats for his book The Satanic Verses which was published in 1988. The book ran into controversy after being accused of blasphemy and mocking the Muslim faith. A year later, Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had issued a religious edict known as a fatwa, asking Muslims to kill Rushdie.
Earlier this month Rushdie made his first public appearance during an interview for a profile in The New Yorker.
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