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Salman Rushdie, a writer whose work sparked death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and visibly stabbed Friday by a man who rushed to the stage while speaking in Western New York up his neck.
#salmanrushdie just attacked on stage @chq @NBC News @ABC @cnnbrk pic.twitter.com/I1XT6AmkhK
— Charles Savino (@CharlieSavenor) August 12, 2022
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua facility and began punching, kicking or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the ground and the man was arrested.
State police said Rushdie was taken to hospital by helicopter. His condition was not immediately known. Rabbi Charles Savino was among the hundreds in the audience. With gasps, the audience was led out of the outdoor amphitheater.
Salman Rushdie is the author of Quichotte, Midnight’s Children, Shame, The Satic Verses, and more. (file photo)
“The guy ran onto the platform and started lashing out at Mr Rushdie. At first you’d be like, ‘What happened? “Then within seconds it was very clear that he had been beaten,” Savino said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds. The bloody Rushdie was soon surrounded by a small group of people who propped up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest. Rushdie has been a prominent spokesperson for free speech and the cause of freedom.
He is the former president of PEN America, which said the attack was “shocked and horrified”. “We cannot imagine a similar incident of open violence against literary writers on American soil,” Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Nossel said in a statement. “Salman Rushdie has been a leader for decades. The target of his rhetoric, but never flinched or wavered,” she added. His 1988 book, The Satanic Verses, is considered blasphemous by many Muslims.
Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed at an event in New York, is being taken to hospital.No news about his condition pic.twitter.com/zQmOZH1jvG
— BNO News (@BNONews) August 12, 2022
Violent protests against Rushdie regularly erupt around the world, including riots that killed 12 MumbaiThe novel was banned in Iran, and the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a decree in 1989 calling for Rushdie’s execution.
There was also a bounty of more than $3 million for anyone who killed Rushdie. Death threats and a bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection scheme that included a 24/7 armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years in seclusion and has cautiously returned to more public appearances, generally maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism.
The Iranian government has long since moved away from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered.
The Censorship Index, an organization that promotes free speech, said funds were recently raised in 2016 to boost rewards for his killing, stressing that the decree of his death is still in effect. In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir about the fatwa, Joseph Anton. The title comes from the pseudonym Rushdie used when he was in hiding.
Rushdie rose to fame for his 1981 Booker Prize-winning novel The Midnight Child, but his name became famous after The Satanic Verses. Chautauqua College, located about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo, a New York City suburb, is known for its summer lecture series. Rushdie has spoken there before.
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