Salman Rushdie Attacked in New York
NEW DELHI, Aug 12: The celebrated author Salman Rushdie, the writer of the controversial book “The Satanic Verses” considered by many Muslims to be blasphemous, was attacked at an event in New York, US, on Friday just as he was about to give a lecture.
While more details about the attack are still awaited, the news agency The Associated Press said its reporter witnessed a man storming the stage at Chautauqua Institution. The attacker either punched or stabbed Rushdie as he was being introduced, the report said.
The author fell to the floor, and the man was restrained, media reports said. Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
Rushdie was taken to the hospital by medical helicopter, according to unconfirmed reports. His condition was not immediately known.
Rushdie, 75, faced threats particularly in the late 1980s over his book, “The Satanic Verses,” which is banned in Iran since 1988 as it is alleged to be blasphemous towards Islam. A year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a “fatwa” (edict), calling for Rushdie’s death. A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million. Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward. That year, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. It wasn’t clear if the attack is linked to that.
A British citizen of Indian origin, Rushdie has lived in the US for the past 20 years. His first novel came out in 1975, but one of his seminal works is about modern India, Midnight’s Children (1981), for which he won the Booker Prize.
After the controversy over his fourth book, The Satanic Verses (1988), he remained out of the public eye. But, despite the threats, he produced several novels throughout the 1990s. In 2007, he was knighted — given the ceremonial title of ‘Sir’ — by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature. He has produced over a dozen works, including non-fiction.
(Manas Dasgupta)
