Topline
Salman Rushdie, whose 1988 novel The Satanic Verses made him the target of death threats, was attacked Friday after taking the stage to deliver a lecture in Chautauqua, N.Y., according to the New York State Police.
Author Salman Rushdie appears at a signing for his book “Home” in London on June 6, 2017.
Key Facts
Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, officials said in a statement, and was transported by helicopter to a local hospital.
His agent, Andrew Wylie, told the New York Times that Rushdie was undergoing surgery.
As Rushdie, 75, was introduced at the Chautauqua Institution, a man rushed onstage and stabbed or punched him 10 to 15 times, according to the Associated Press.
A suspect was taken into custody, police said.
Rushdie’s interviewer suffered a minor head injury.
In 1989 the ruler of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie to be killed.
Key Background
Some religious readers disagreed with Rushdie’s depiction of the prophet Muhammad in The Satanic Verses and found the book insulting to Muslims. The book was banned in several countries, including Rushdie’s home country India, where he was banned from going for roughly 10 years. After Khomeini issued the fatwa on Rushdie, the author went into hiding for several years and was granted protection from U.K. police. A handful of the book’s publishers and translators survived attacks in the 1990s, and its Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi died after being stabbed in 1991. A “semi-official Iranian religious foundation” increased the reward for Rushdie’s killing to $3.3 million from $2.7 million to in 2012, according to the AP. In 2016, Iranian state-run media organizations contributed $600,000 to the bounty.
Further Reading
Salman Rushdie Is Attacked Onstage in Western New York (New York Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/08/12/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-onstage-in-new-york/