“Rushdie is now nothing more than the living dead and to honor this brave action, approximately 1,000 square meters of agricultural land will be donated to the person or one of his legal representatives,” Jarei said.
The attack came 33 years after then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious decree, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie, months after “The Satanic Verses” was published. Some Muslims saw the novel as blasphemous about the Prophet Muhammad.
Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim Kashmiri family, lived with a bounty on his head, and spent nine years in hiding under British police protection.