Author Salman Rushdie violently attacked while on stage in New York
Author Salman Rushdie, who has suffered years of death threats after writing his controversial book The Satanic Verses, has been attacked while speaking at an event for the Chautauqua Institution on stage in New York.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The author was taken or fell to the floor, and the perpetrator was restrained. An online video shows attendees rushing onto the stage immediately following the incident this afternoon.
The attacker is said to have been restrained by those present at the talk with eventual help from security. As yet, the author’s condition isn’t known.
Rushdie was ironically attending the event for a discussion about the United States as a place of asylum for writers and other artists in exile and how it is a home for freedom of creative expression.
The Indian author, who was educated at Rugby School in the UK, is famed for his book The Satanic Verses, which has been banned in Iran since 1988 as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. Around a year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Iran has also offered over $3million in reward for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Tehran has distanced itself from Khomeini’s stance, but a palpable anti-Rushdie sentiment has prevailed. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8million to $3.3million.
Rushdie dismissed the threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in a bounty reward.
