Khan made the remarks in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief said that while uproar across the Muslim world following the publication of The Satanic Verses was understandable, the attack was unjustifiable. “I think it’s terrible, sad," the paper quoted Khan as remarking.
The PTI chief had famously refused to participate in an event a decade earlier that Rushdie was slated to attend too. The two had traded barbs after.
Rushdie was attacked in New York on August 12. He was set to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when a man stabbed him as he was being introduced. The attacker was later overpowered.
Rushdie, a Booker Prize-winning author, courted global infamy following the publication of his divisive book The Satanic Verses. The book, deemed blasphemous by many, was banned across the Muslim world.
The writer had to spend years living underground after now-deceased Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (edict) calling for his death. A hefty bounty was also placed on his head.
75-year-old Rushdie was born in undivided India. He moved to England after. The writer is currently based in the United States of America.
His other works include: Midnight’s Children, East-West, Shame, Shalimar the Clown and The Enchantress of Florence. He has also authored Joseph Anton: a memoir of time spent underground.