'Satanic Verses' author Salman Rushdie attacked on stage, suffers 'apparent stab wound to the neck'
Salman Rushdie: Human being arrested after author attacked on stage
By Sam Cabral
BBC News, Washington
Author Salman Rushdie, who suffered years of Islamist decease threats after writing The Satanic Verses, has been attacked on stage in New York country.
The Booker Prize winner, 75, was speaking at an event at the Chautauqua Institution at the time.
New York Country Law said a male suspect ran up onto the phase and attacked Mr Rushdie and an interviewer.
"Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck," the police force statement said.
Witnesses told US media he was stabbed multiple times in the neck and torso expanse, and appeared to fall backwards every bit he tried to motion abroad from the assaulter.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told a press conference about an hour afterward that Mr Rushdie was alive.
He was taken to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, by helicopter. There has been no further official confirmation on the extent of his injuries.
The interviewer who was also on stage, Henry Reese, suffered a small-scale head injury. Mr Reese is the co-founder of a non-profit that provides sanctuary to writers exiled under threat of persecution.
The suspect was immediately taken into custody, police force said.
Mark Sommer, a reporter for Buffalo News, told the BBC News Channel that the attacker had emerged from the audition in a black mask.
A video posted online shows attendees rushing onto the phase immediately following the incident.
Watch: From the scene where Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage
Indian-born novelist Mr Rushdie catapulted to fame with Midnight'southward Children in 1981, which went on to sell over one million copies in the UK solitary.
But his fourth book, in 1988 - The Satanic Verses - forced him into hiding for 9 years.
The surrealist, mail service-mod novel sparked outrage amongst some Muslims, who considered its content to exist blasphemous, and was banned in some countries.
A yr after the book's release, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini called for Mr Rushdie'south execution. He offered a $3m (£2.5m) reward in a fatwa - a legal decree issued past an Islamic religious leader.
The bounty over Mr Rushdie's head remains active, and although Iran'south government has distanced itself from Khomeini'southward decree, a quasi-official Iranian religious foundation added a further $500,000 to the advantage in 2012.
The British-American citizen - who was born to non-practising Muslims and is an atheist himself - has get a vocal advocate for freedom of expression, defending his piece of work on several occasions.
Though we practise non know the motivation of Salman Rushdie'south aggressor, the author has faced death threats for more than thirty years since the publication of The Satanic Verses. Mr Rushdie said the main thrust of his novel was to examine the immigrant feel, only some Muslims were offended by portrayals of the Prophet Muhammed and the questioning of the nature of the revelation of the Quran equally the word of God.
The Satanic Verses was banned outset in the writer's land of birth, India, and and then several other countries before Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued his infamous fatwa.
The fatwa called for the killing of anyone involved in the publication of the book and offered rewards to those who took part in the murders. That fatwa has never formally been rescinded.
Surprised by the widespread nature of the protests, Salman Rushdie apologised to Muslims but went into hiding for much of the side by side x years.
Though the writer had escaped physical harm until now, others associated with the book had not, with its Norwegian publisher having been shot and seriously wounded in the early 90s, and its Japanese translator stabbed to death.
When Mr Rushdie was knighted in 2007 past Queen Elizabeth II, information technology sparked protests in Iran and Pakistan, where ane chiffonier minister said the honour "justifies suicide attacks".
Several literary events attended past Mr Rushdie have been subject field to threats and boycotts - but he continues to write. His side by side novel, Victory City, is due to be published in Feb 2023.
His appearance at the Chautauqua Institution event, in western New York, was the first in a summer lecture serial hosted by the non-profit organisation.
UK Prime number Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right nosotros should never cease to defend."
Author and graphic novel creator Neil Gaiman said he was "shocked and distressed" by the assault on his friend and fellow writer.
"He'south a good homo and a brilliant one and I hope he'south okay," Gaiman wrote on Twitter.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul vowed to "assist however needed in the investigation" into the stabbing.
"Hither's an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power. Someone who's been out there, unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his unabridged developed life," she said.
More than on this story
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62524922
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