After six months of fatal attack, on Tuesday famous author Salman Rushdie’s new novel ‘Victory City’ was released which happens to be a translated version from the Sanskrit ‘pandulipi’ (script), that speaks of an epic tale of 14^th century India where a young woman showed courage and guts to defy the patriarchal world that prevailed during the era.  

Since last August Rushdie is undergoing medical treatment as he lost his eye sight in one of the eyes and unable to use one of his hands after he was stabbed several times. He was almost dead after the incident. It’s commendable, especially when on average writers or columnists take a backseat when fringe elements try to silence their voices, here is Salman Rushdie has made a comeback with more strong conviction.

According to Andrew Wylie, the personal agent of the author in India, Salman Rushdie who is not medically fit and is undergoing treatment, was not present at the launching event personally to promote his novel ‘Victory City’. However, Wylie informed that his condition is stable. The publisher of Penguin Random House has described the new work by Rushdie – A young orphan girl, endowed by Goddess with magical power, on a mission to give woman equal agency in patriarchal world, founded a city of Bishnagar. The plot of the story is Indian society. This novel was written far before he was attacked on 12th August, just before about to speak in conference hall at Chautauqua, in upstates New York.

Salman Rushdie had remained in controversy ever since his novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ was launched in 1988. In India, the book was banned and the Booker Prize finalist, turned a victim of the Muslim fundamentalists across the world who instigated politics against the author and called the book as ‘blasphemous’ which they termed ‘anti-Islam’.

In 1989 the supreme leader in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni ordered Muslims to kill Rushdie, since then Rushdie had lived in hiding, under constant life threat. Even after the death of Khomeni, the ‘fatwa’ (diktat) was kept unchanged by the next in the hagiarchy, Ali Khameini.

(The author is a senior journalist from Kolkata, West Bengal. She has worked with reputed dailies on desk. )