Irish Examiner view: Rushdie attack is an assault on us all

The knife attack on author Salman Rushdie serves as a reminder that support for freedom of expression is a dying creed

British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie has been under a death threat since he wrote 'The Satanic Verses' in 1988.  Picture: Dinendra Haria/Alamy

The assault on author Salman Rushdie while speaking at a literary festival, is a grim reminder of the forces of intolerance and hatred which stride across the world.

That the impulsion for such attacks is justified by Islamic extremism, hijacked for political advantage by fundamentalist ayatollahs, is a grievous stain on one of the world’s great religions, but it is also another warning that support for freedom of expression in the 21st century is a dying creed, and will perish unless it is upheld.