The novelist was about to speak in New York when he was reportedly stabbed. “Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage, prompting speculation of a link to the 1989 Iranian bounty on his head.
Author Salman Rushdie was attacked on Friday in New York State, while preparing to give a lecture. Video from the event shows security swarming the stage and Rushdie lying on the ground. Initial reports said he was stabbed. The attacker has been arrested. Author Salman Rushdie, who for the past multiple decades has faced death threats from Iran’s top Islamic clerics, has been attacked on stage in New York Friday just before he was set to give a lecture.
“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,” AP reports. “The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.”
Rushdie, 75, was preparing to give a speech at the Chautauqua Institution. Unverified photos circulating on social media show the Indian-born British-American novelist being taken away in an ambulance.
“Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck,” the New York State Police said in a statement said. He was airlifted by helicopter to a local hospital.
Authorities have not yet identified the assailant. Major outlets have speculated the attack could be related to the 1989 fatwa declared by Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, offering a bounty on Rushdie’s head for his novel ‘The Satanic Verses,’ declared blasphemous in the Islamic Republic.
While Iran has officially backtracked from the fatwa, an Iranian religious foundation offered a $3.3 million bounty for Rushdie in 2012.
Salmon Rushdie stabbed at Chautauqua. He’s on the stage being treated. Before his scheduled speech.
Salmon Rushdie stabbed at Chautauqua. He’s on the stage being treated. Before his scheduled speech. pic.twitter.com/xqeM79WseB
— Mary Newsom (@marynewsom) August 12, 2022
https://twitter.com/poonamkaushel/status/1558108764762320897
Starting in 1989, Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushie’s death over his controversial book, “The Satanic Verses”. The 1988 novel by the British-Indian writer became more famous as the controversy around it grew. It is a fictional account of an alternative history of the Islamic prophet Muhammad which much of the Muslim world deemed blasphemy.
In recent years the bounty has been raised to over $3 million, Iranian state media sources have previously reported, which was mostly raised by a religious foundation with ties to the government. On an official level, Tehran has of late tried to downplay and distance itself from the prior anti-Rushdie fatwa. Over the many years he’s been subject of several failed assassination plots.
The at this point unidentified attacker is reported to be in NYPD custody.
Rushdie was seen being life-flighted from the venue, condition unknown…
This man has been detained by police.
Salman Rushdie was taken to the hospital by medical helicopter.
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) August 12, 2022
Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed after taking stage at a Chautauqua Institute event.
This man has been detained by police.-#NYPD#SalmanRushdie #Newyork pic.twitter.com/M2xt3nicbh