After publishing The Satanic Verses, author Salman Rushdie received years of death threats from Islamists. Recently, he was attacked on stage in New York.
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The 75-year-old Booker Prize laureate was speaking at a Chautauqua Institution event at the time.
A man suspect allegedly went up onto the platform and attacked Mr. Rushdie. Also an interviewer, according to the New York State Police.
According to the police statement, Rushdie “suffered an apparent knife wound to the neck.”
The author was flown by chopper to a nearby hospital. His condition is unknown at this time.Henry Reese, the interviewer, also experienced a mild head injury. Mr. Reese is a co-founder of a nonprofit organisation that offers safety to writers who are fleeing persecution. According to authorities, the suspect was brought into custody right away.
In a video that was uploaded online, spectators can be seen flocking to the stage right after the event.
Midnight’s Children, a 1981 novel by the Indian-born author that went on to sell over a million copies in the UK alone, launched her to prominence.
However, Mr. Rushdie spent nine years in hiding after publishing The Satanic Verses, his fourth book, in 1988.
The surrealist, post-modern book was outlawed in several nations and caused controversy among some Muslims. As they thought its content was disrespectful.
Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran, demanded the execution of Mr. Rushdie. He offered a $3 million (£2.5 million) reward one year after the book’s release.
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The violence that erupted after its release claimed the lives of dozens of people, including the work’s translators who were killed.
Despite Iran’s government’s distancing from Khomeini’s order, the bounty on Mr. Rushdie’s head is still in place.
The author, who holds dual citizenship in the US and the UK, is a strong supporter of the right to free speech and has defended his writing on numerous occasions.
He received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, which provoked protests in Pakistan and Iran. One cabinet minister there claimed the honour “justifies suicide attacks.”
Mr. Rushdie has previously faced threats and boycotts for attending literary events.
His appearance at the Chautauqua Institution event in western New York served as the opening lecture of the nonprofit organization’s summer lecture series.
When approached by media, a spokesperson for the organization’s on-site police department declined to comment.
An artist at the location claimed that rehearsals had been proceeding normally up until the attack inside the amphitheatre this morning.
Since then, she added, the area has been under lockdown.
The news of the incident left PEN America, a well-known US free speech organisation for writers, “reeling with shock and despair.” From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Rushdie served as the organization’s president.
According to their statement, “We can think of no comparable incidence of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American territory.”
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, committed to “help in the inquiry however needed.”
Following this terrible incident, “our thoughts are with Salman and his loved ones,” she added.
