Author Salman Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats, has been attacked on stage at an event in western New York
Salman Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage every bit the writer was about to give a lecture in western New York.
An Associated Printing reporter witnessed a man face up Rushdie every bit he was being introduced onstage at the Chautauqua Institution and dial or stab him ten to 15 times. The 75-year-old author vicious to the floor, and the human was arrested.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital, state law said, noting that he had suffered an "apparent stab wound to the neck." His condition was not immediately known, though New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said afterward that he was alive and "getting the care he needs."
Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was undergoing surgery, but had no other details.
Result moderator Henry Reese, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked and suffered a minor head injury, police said.
Sentry | Witnesses describe Salman Rushdie attack: 
Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheatre. Rabbi Charles Savenor was amongst the roughly 2,500 people in the audience when the attack took place.
"This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first you're like, 'What's going on?' And then it became abundantly articulate in a few seconds that he was being beaten."
Savenor said the attack lasted almost twenty seconds.
After the attack, Rushdie was chop-chop surrounded by a modest group of people who held upwardly his legs.
Another spectator, Kathleen Jones, said the attacker was dressed in black and wore a black mask.
"We idea possibly it was role of a stunt to bear witness that there's yet a lot of controversy around this author," she said, noting it soon became axiomatic that it was no stunt.
WATCH | New York Gov. Kathy Hochul gives update on Salman Rushdie's condition: 
Rushdie, a prominent spokesperson for costless expression and liberal causes, is a sometime president of nonprofit PEN America. The grouping said it was "reeling from shock and horror" at the attack.
"Nosotros can call up of no comparable incident of a public violent assail on a literary writer on American soil," CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
"Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades just has never flinched nor faltered."
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Death threats followed novel
Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses, first published in 1988, was viewed every bit cursing by many Muslims. Oftentimes-vehement protests against Rushdie erupted effectually the earth, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's decease in 1989. Khomeini died that same yr.
Soon afterward, a wave of violence followed. Also in 1989, iv bombs were placed exterior of Penguin bookshops, i of which exploded in Northern England — Penguin being the British publisher of The Satanic Verses.
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In 1991,The Satanic Verses' Italian translator Ettore Capriolo was browbeaten and suffered pocketknife wounds by a man who said he was Iranian. Less than two weeks later, Hitoshi Igarashi — who translated the book into Japanese — was stabbed to death by an attacker in Tokyo.
Iran's current leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has never withdrawn the fatwa, though in recent years, Islamic republic of iran hasn't focused on the author.
Iran's mission to the United nations did non immediately respond to a request for annotate on Friday'southward attack.
A bounty of over $3 million US has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to become into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed baby-sit.
Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.
Novelist and professor of English at the Academy of Toronto Randy Boyagoda — who says he has interviewed Rushdie numerous times — said Rushdie'southward commitment to liberty of expression is what guides his career.
While Boyagoda said the public focus on Satanic Verses and the violence and controversy that surrounds information technology is likely a "source of frustration" for Rushdie, he continues to speak publicly well-nigh the book, and the danger artists can face for speaking out, in order to champion the power of the written word.
"Hither is someone who was not romantic about information technology — similar, bluntly, many of us are — but in fact, put his own life on the line to keep with his work," Boyagoda said.
Rushdie himself has said he is proud of his fight for liberty of expression, saying at a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fearfulness.
"The only mode you tin can defeat information technology is by deciding not to be afraid," he said.
Fatwa still stands
Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini'southward decree, just anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered.
The Index on Censorship, an organization promoting complimentary expression, said money was raised to boost the advantage for his killing equally recently as 2016, underscoring the fact that the fatwa for his death still stands.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir near life under the fatwa, titledJoseph Anton, which was the pseudonym Rushdie used while in hiding.
WATCH | In 2012, Rushdie spoke to CBC nigh his life in hiding: 
Though the author rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnight'south Children, his name became known effectually the world after The Satanic Verses.
The Chautauqua Institution, about 90 kilometres southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than than a century as a identify for reflection and spiritual guidance. Visitors don't pass through metallic detectors or undergo handbag checks.
Police force said a state trooper had been assigned to Rushdie's lecture.
The Chautauqua centre is known for its summer lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before.
Rushdie and Reese were fix to discuss "the United states equally asylum for writers and other artists in exile and every bit a dwelling for freedom of creative expression."
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/salman-rushdie-attacked-new-york-state-1.6549547
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