Author Salman Rushdie attacked on lecture stage at New York event | Watch
1 min read 12 Aug 2022, 09:18 PM ISTSalman Rushdie whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York, as per reports
PremiumAuthor Salman Rushdie on Friday was reportedly attacked on the stage at an event held in New York where he was about to give a lecture. The author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York, as per reports.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Salman Rushdie as he was being introduced, and the author was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained, the AP report said. The report further stated that Rushdie's condition was not immediately known.
Notably, Salman Rushdie's book “The Satanic Verses" has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year later, Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death, as per the AP report. A bounty of over USD 3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie, while 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 USD 2.8 million to USD 3.3 million, the report said.
Salman Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence" of people being interested in the reward. Additionally, that year, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton," about the fatwa.
(With inputs from AP)
