Salman Rushdie Stabbed In New York: 10 Lesser Known Facts About The Controversial Author
Salman Rushdie Stabbed In New York: 10 Lesser Known Facts About The Controversial Author
Salman Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” but his name became known around the world after “The Satanic Verses.”
Salman Rushdie attends the 68th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on Nov. 15, 2017, in New York. Rushdie (Photo/AP)
New York: Author Salman Rushdie, whose controversial writings made him the target of death threats in 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck on Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. The Booker Prize winner author was confronted by a man on stage at the Chautauqua Institution, who punch or stab him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced, reported Associated Press. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested. State police said Rushdie was apparently stabbed in the neck and was flown to a hospital. His condition wasn’t immediately known.
10 Facts About Rushdie and His Controversial Writings
Salman Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America.
He is author of one of the most controversial novels ever written, The Satanic Verses. The 1988 book was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims. Often-violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the world, 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 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. A bounty of over $3 million was also offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a round-the-clock armed guard.
He emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.
Khomeini died the same year he issued fatwa against Rushdie, and Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from his decree. However, anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
The author, however, dismissed the threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward.
He has said he is proud of his fight for freedom of expression, saying in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear. “The only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid,” he said.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” but his name became known around the world after “The Satanic Verses.”
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