Author Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage in New York

The Indian-born British author, Salman Rushdie, whose books in the 1980s provoked death threats from Iran, was attacked on Friday morning as he prepared to deliver a speech in western New York.

As Rushdie was being introduced, a guy stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and started beating or stabbing Rushdie, as seen by an Associated Press reporter.

The 75-year-old was taken or fell to the floor, and the attacker was restrained.

Photos taken by an Associated Press reporter show Rushdie lying on his back, with a first responder crouched over him.

Since 1988, Iran has outlawed Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” because many Muslims view it as disrespectful. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late president of Iran, called for Rushdie’s execution in a fatwa, or decree, that was published a year later.

 A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.  

In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.

Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward.

Who is Salman Rushdie?

British novelist Salman Rushdie was born in India, and because of his writings on politics and religion, he has caused controversy in some parts of the world.

His first three books, Grimus (1975), Midnight’s Children (1981), and Shame (1983), were well-received, but his fourth book, The Satanic Verses, was met with condemnation.

Some members of the Muslim community in the UK expressed outrage at certain parts in the 1988 book that included a figure that was modelled after the Prophet Muhammad.

In the months that followed, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual head of the revolutionary Iran, condemned the book and issued a fatwa against the author as protests expanded to Pakistan.

There was a bounty on his head. Rushdie went into hiding in the UK under the protection of Scotland Yard, but he occasionally made appearances in public.

Despite the danger to his life, he persisted in his writing.