NEW DELHI: Salman Rushdie, the author of ‘The Satanic Verses‘, was attacked while he was about to give a lecture in New York.
According to reports, Rushdie was attacked when he was about to give a lecture at Chautauqua Institution in New York. As per eyewitnesses, a man stormed the stage and begin punching and stabbing Rushdie when he was being introduced.
The author fell down on the floor, and the assailant was restrained. His condition is not known till now, however, he has been taken to the hospital via air ambulance.
Rushdie came into the limelight after his book “The Satanic Verses” was banned in 1988 by a host of countries, including India which was then governed by Rajiv Gandhi, over content that Muslims considered “blasphemous”. A year later, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, calling for Rushdie’s death.
A bounty of $3 million was offered to anyone who kills Rushdie after Islamists around the world targeted him for his book “The Satanic Verses” which they said was blasphemous against Islam”.
Iran has since then disassociated itself from Khomeini’s edict, but hatred against Rushdie had persisted over decades as Islamists continued to mount fatal assassination bids against those they regarded had committed the “unpardonable sin” of blaspheming against Islam.
From Charlie Hebdo journalists to French school teacher Samuel Paty to Hindu Samaj leader Kamlesh Tiwari, and recently Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe, have been some of the victims of the mentality that had targeted Rushdie’s book during the 1980s and called for an attack against him.
Rushdie, however, at that time, dismissed the threat saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward.