第1510期：Who is Salman Rushdie?
Those who know me well know that I don’t read news, well, almost no news in my life.
My motto is – Most news has nothing to do with you; If something is so vital that you must know, people around you will tell you.
I try my best to keep news out of my life.
But last Friday, a stabbing incident in the U.S. caught my attention.
On Aug 12, 2022, a man stabbed Rushdie, severely injuring him, after rushing onto the stage where the novelist was scheduled to deliver a lecture at an event in Chautauqua, New York. – The New York Times.
Who is Rushdie?
Salman Rushdie (Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie) is an Indian-born British-American novelist.
After his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie became the subject of controversy, provoking protests and debates about the roles of freedom of expression and political violence. – Wikipedia.
Who is the suspect that stabbed him?
The suspect is 24-year-old Hadi Matar, a resident of New Jersey.
As of Aug 15, 2022, the suspect pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a deadly weapon.
According to his lawyer, Matar will face up to 32 years if convicted of both charges.
Knowledge about two legal terms:
* If you are charged with a crime, you will be asked, in court, whether or not you did the crime. This is called “entering a plea.”
* “Plead not guilty” means you say you didn’t do the crime or that you had a reasonable excuse for doing it. The court will then have a trial to decide whether you did.
Why did he do that?
The MO (modus operandi, motif) is unclear.
But it seems like a crime instigated by hatred and extreme ideology out of the mentality of “I disagree with you, so I not only don’t like what you say or write but also hate you as a person, and I will hurt you or even kill you when I have the chance.”
* * *
Our world is full of uncertainties.
Uncertainty makes everyone anxious about their lives because they see little or no hope.
Lack of hope, or the inability to see hope, makes people prone to extreme and paranoid ideologies and propaganda.
Extremity strips people of humanity, enveloping them in hatred, parochialism, ultranationalism, hostility, xenophobia, self-isolation, bigotry, and narcissism, and ultimately leads to suicidal extermination.
This is how I look at what’s happening in the world today.
This is also why I seldom read the newspaper or the news.
There is no news under the sun.
Everything has happened before, in different disguises, though.
After this incident, I started reading Salman Rushdie’s book: “The Satanic Verses.”
The fundamental freedom is the freedom of speech and free expression.
Hatred should not rule or ruin our lives just because someone doesn’t like to hear something.
“Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy (U.S. President), Ich bin ein Berliner Speech, June 26, 1963
What will you do if you don’t like a book or writer? Burn it? Kill him? And you call it confidence? Give me a fuxking break.
Reference
- Official website of Salman Rushdie – https://www.salmanrushdie.com/
-
BBC – Salman Rushdie: Iran blames writer and supporters for
stabbing
