New York State Police said a man ran up the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. “Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck,” police said in a statement. In the case of the interviewer, it was learned that he suffered minor injuries.
The suspect was immediately taken into custody, police said. So far the motives of the attacker are unknown. The writer has been a prominent spokesperson for free speech and liberal causes.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the attack in a Twitter message. “Dismayed that Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed to death while he was exercising a right that we must never stop defending. At this time my thoughts are with his loved ones. We all hope he’s okay.”
The UK Muslim Council also condemned the attack and called for the perpetrator to be brought to justice. Meanwhile, writers like JK Rowling and Stephen King expressed their support for Rushdie on social networks.
I hope Salman Rushdie is okay.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 12, 2022
Who is Salman Rushdie?
The writer was born in 1947 in Bombay (India). Many of his books have been very successful. With his second novel, “Children of Midnight”won the Booker Prize in 1981, one of the most prestigious in English.
but they were “The Satanic Verses” his most controversial novel, as it was seen as blasphemy by many Muslims. Often violent protests against Rushdie broke out around the world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, in 1989 calling for Rushdie’s death.
A reward of more than $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and reward drove Rushdie into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a 24-hour armed guard. Salman Rushdie has emerged from nine years in seclusion and has cautiously resumed more public appearances, keeping his open criticism of religious extremism in general.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment persisted. The Index on Censorship, an organization that promotes freedom of expression, said that money was raised to increase the reward for his murder in 2016, underlining that the fatwa for his death still stands.
In 2007 he was knighted in the UK for his contributions to literature. By 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton”about this edict. The title comes from the pseudonym the writer had used while he was in hiding.
