Salman Rushdie: Author in danger attacked on stage in USA

“The Satanic Verses”
Popular author Salman Rushdie attacked on stage in upstate New York

Author Salman Rushdie, whose work led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked on Friday while attempting to give a lecture in western New York state. That’s what they report Associated Press news agency and the British broadcaster BBC consistent. The police and emergency services were called to the event venue, the police confirmed to the German Press Agency on Friday.

An Associated Press reporter saw a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and began punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced, according to the report. Rushdie fell to the ground and the man was pinned down. A picture from the AP shows people tending to Rushdie, who is lying on the ground. Little is currently known about his condition. Police confirmed Rushdie sustained a stab wound to the neck and was taken to a hospital.

The “New York Times” quoted a witness: “There was only one attacker”. And further: “He was dressed in black. He was wearing a loose black garment. He ran towards him at lightning speed.” The TV station CNN also quoted a witness who had seen the attack.

Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988 because many Muslims consider it blasphemous. A year later, the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.

Iran distanced itself from fatwa – anti-Rushdie sentiment persisted

Iran also offered a reward of more than $3 million for anyone who kills Rushdie. A Japanese translator was later actually killed. Rushdie had to go into hiding and was given police protection. According to the Associated Press, the Iranian government has since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree. But anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation increased Rushdie’s bounty from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.

Rushdie denied the threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” people were interested in the reward. That year Rushdie published his memoir Joseph Anton on the fatwa. According to his publisher last year, the ayatollah’s fatwa no longer had any meaning for Rushdie. He is no longer restricted in his freedom of movement and no longer needs bodyguards.

Rushdie was born in the year of Indian independence in 1947 in the metropolis of Mumbai (then Bombay). He later studied history at King’s College, Cambridge. He had his breakthrough as an author with the book “Midnight’s Children” (“Midnight’s Children”), which was awarded the prestigious Booker Prize in 1981.

Note: This article has been updated several times.

rw / DPA