Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, 75, is stabbed to death before a speech about “America is a haven for writers in exile” in upstate New York – 33 years after Iran issued a fatwa
Author Salman Rushdie was injured after being stabbed onstage before a speech he was scheduled to give in Chautauqua, near Buffalo.
The 75-year-old writer was attacked as he took the stage for the CHQ 2022 event before delivering a speech on Friday morning.
He participated in a discussion on the United States as a haven for exiled writers and other artists and a home for freedom of creative expression.
Witnesses claimed he managed to get off the stage with help and the attacker is reportedly in custody.
The author was knighted in the UK in 2007 “for services to literature” by his friend Tony Blair.
Rushdie has previously received death threats for his writing, with his 1988 book The Satanic Verses sparking protests.
He wrote The Satanic Verses, which led to a culture war igniting in Britain in 1988 – with UK protests and book burnings.
Pakistan banned the book, and a fatwa – a death sentence – was imposed on it by the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989.
Rushdie has previously received death threats for his writing, with his 1988 book The Satanic Verses sparking protests
After the attack, people rushed to help the author, with the motive currently unknown
Rushdie was taped before his speech in Chautauqua, near Buffalo
Khomeini called for the deaths of Rushdie and his publishers, and urged Muslims to point him to those who might kill him if they could not do it themselves.
He was in hiding with police protection for a decade and previously reported that every year he received a “sort of Valentine’s card” from Iran letting him know the country hadn’t forgotten the vow to kill him.
Hitoshi Igarashi, who translated The Satanic Verses into Japanese for Rushdie, was stabbed to death on the campus where he taught literature.
Ettore Capriolo, the book’s Italian translator, was stabbed to death in his Milan apartment.
The novel’s Norwegian publisher, William Nygaard, was shot three times and left to die outside his home in October 1993, but survived the attack. In Turkey, the book’s translator, Aziz Nesin, was the target of a hotel arson attack that killed 37 people.
This is an evolving story.