Salman Rushdie, a novelist who received death threats from Iran in the 1980s due to his work, was assaulted on Friday as he prepared to deliver a lecture in western New York.
As Rushdie was presented, an Associated Press reporter saw a guy attack the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and start hitting or stabbing Rushdie.
The author was carried off or knocked to the ground, and the guy was bound.
According to several media agencies, Rushdie has allegedly been stabbed, although the information is unconfirmed. Audience members captured the event on their iPhones.
Since 1988, Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses has been prohibited in Iran because many Muslims see it as sinful.
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Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late president of Iran, called for Rushdie’s execution in a fatwa, or decree, published a year later.
Rushdie’s assassination has also attracted more than USD 3 million.
Although the Iranian government had distanced itself from Khomeini’s order long ago, animosity for Rushdie persisted. Rushdie’s reward was increased in 2012 by a semi-official Iranian religious institution from USD 2.8 million to USD 3.3 million.
Rushdie rejected the threat at the time, claiming there was “no proof” that anybody would be interested in the prize.
