India broke its silence on Salman Rushdie and wished him a “speedy recovery”, two weeks after he was attacked in the US.
The Indian-born author was scheduled to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in New York when he was stabbed several times on stage on August 12.
“India has always stood against violence and extremism,” Foreign Ministry representative Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.
“We condemn this horrific attack on Salman Rushdie and we wish him speedy recovery.”
Mr Bagchi’s comments came days after External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had given an evasive reaction on the attack on August 15.
“I have also read about the attack,” Mr Jaishankar had said during an interactive session.
“I was busy in my own programme. I also saw that and I think obviously that is something which the whole world has noted. Any attack like this, obviously, the entire world has reacted.”
Rushdie, 75, was stabbed in the neck and torso by Hadi Matar, 24.
He was airlifted to a hospital in Pennsylvania, where he was put on a ventilator and underwent surgery.
While the incident, which was condemned worldwide, led to an outpouring of support for Rushdie, India remained silent.
Rushdie was born in Mumbai to Kashmiri Muslim parents before moving to England.
He became a target after the release of his controversial book, The Satanic Verses, in 1988.
India was the first country to ban the book after widespread protests erupted around the world, resulting in the death of at least 45 people, including 12 in Mumbai.
A Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death while its Norwegian publisher was shot three times in 1993, but survived.
Rushdie spent years in hiding after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader at the time, issued a decree in 1989, ordering his execution after accusing the author of blasphemy.
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
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2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
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2025: Pakistan; 2029: India
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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