Dutch publisher to reprint Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses'

The Dutch publisher of Salman Rushdie, Pluim, is going to reprint and republish older work by the author, including his best-known and most controversial book "The Satanic Verses," the publisher reported on Twitter. The well-known author is off the ventilator after being stabbed in the United States on Friday.

Pluim will publish the translation of Rushdie's new novel "Victory City" in February of next year. In addition, the publisher will ensure that "Midnight's Children," "The Satanic Verses" and "Joseph Anton" are available again as soon as possible. "Especially now it is important that his work can be read," Pluim wrote.

The British-Indian writer was stabbed 10 times by a man with a knife just before a lecture in Chautauqua, New York on Friday. This man has been arrested. His motive is not yet clear, but it is suspected that the attack has something to do with the death sentence, or fatwa, passed on Rushdie in the late 1980s by the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini after The Satanic Verses was first published. The work is considered blasphemous by many Muslims.

Dutch politicians condemned the event as "horrific." Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote: "Shocked to hear about the horrible attack on Salman Rushdie. What we always feared has happened: stabbed while exercising his fundamental right to free speech."

Pluim publishers also said they are upset by the attack on the author. "Salman Rushdie is a great writer with an extensive body of work. His magic-realistic novels reflect our society. He uses all the means that literature offers him. When his work gives rise to such a crime, thinking stops. We hope to a speedy recovery," the publisher said.