Khushboo Malhotra

Indian-origin British-American author Salman Rushdie got stabbed in the neck and abdomen after taking the stage to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. NY State Police Authority has identified and detained the suspect while Rushdie underwent immediate surgery. 

Salman Rushdie, the award-winning British-American novelist of Indian origin, whose 1988 controversial novel The Satanic Verses which has continued to draw death threats from Iran, has been brutally attacked in New York.

On August 12, 2022, Rushdie was stabbed onstage in his neck and abdomen 10 to 15 times, as reported by the Associated Press, ahead of his scheduled lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, U.S.

The 75-year-old author is currently on a ventilator, unable to speak, after undergoing surgery and he’s at the risk of losing an eye. 

As the story develops, here’s everything you need to know so far:

SNAPSHOT OF EVENTS

  • Salman Rushdie was present at the Chautauqua Institution on August 12, to deliver a lecture and address a mass crowd of 2,500 people in the audience. It is an infamously peaceful place, known for celebrating the arts.
  • The lecture was a “discussion of the United States as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.”
  • As first reported by AP, around 10:47 a.m., as Rushdie was being introduced onstage by the discussion’s moderator, the co-founder of a Pittsburgh nonprofit City of Asylum, Henry Reese, a young man, rushed to the stage and attacked the author from behind.
  • Some members ran to provide aid while others rushed to the suspect and restrained him on the ground before a state trooper took the attacker into custody. The assailant stabbed Rushdie and continued to attack him, even after being held back by several people.
  • A physician in attendance, Rita Landman, stated that Rushdie had multiple stab wounds, including one on the right side of his neck.
  • A helicopter airlifted and took Salman Rushdie to a nearby hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery for several hours on Friday afternoon.
Salman Rushdie is being treated via a ventilator and is unable to speak. His agent, Andrew Wylie, told the New York Times, “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged. The news is not good.”
“Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged. The news is not good.”

Reese was also taken to the hospital where he received treatment for minor head and facial injuries before being released. CNN reports the venue had rejected previous recommendations to toughen security measures. Salman Rushdie had a bounty on his head offering more than $3 million to anyone who would be willing to take his life.

SUSPECT & INVESTIGATION

The authorities identified the assailant as Hadi Matar, 24, from Fairview, New Jersey, who was arrested at the scene. Officials have said  “The motive behind the attack remains unclear” 

“The motive behind the attack remains unclear” 

Police are working with the FBI and local sheriffs to get search warrants for several items found at the crime site, including a backpack and electronic devices. Authorities believe the suspect was alone.

Michael Hill, Chautauqua’s president, said that Matar had a pass to access the institution’s grounds like any typical patron.

A preliminary review of Matar’s social media accounts by law enforcement showed him to be sympathetic to Shia extremism and the causes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a law enforcement person with direct knowledge of the investigation, told NBC News.

The Satanic Verses Controversy:

Salman Rushdie, who has spent the last 20 years living in the US, has endured threats for years because of his controversial 1988 book The Satanic Verses, which was banned in many nations, including Iran because many Muslims believed it contained passages that were blasphemous to Islam.

He spent around ten years in the UK under police protection after Iran’s late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for his execution. Rushdie has lived in the US since the year 2000.

In 2012, Rushdie released a memoir titled Joseph Anton that discussed the fatwa and derived its title from the author’s pseudonyms, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov. Rushdie has had a more open existence in New York City in recent years.

Political Reactions:

The egregious assault on Salman Rushdie alarmed and terrified the literary community. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain expressed his thoughts on the unfortunate incident in a tweet.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul also repressed her support for Rushdie and the “commitment to freedom to speak to write truth”.

While fellow writers such as Stephen King and J.K. Rowling expressed their well-wishes, Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, declared in a statement on Twitter, “We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie while he was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time.”
From the White House, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan termed the attack as “appalling,” and “reprehensible.”. He continued to voice that all of “…the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery.”
However, government supporters celebrated the stabbing of Mr Rushdie on social media as the fulfilment of the Ayatollah’s fatwa.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert who is a British-Australian scholar, previously detained on allegations of spying by the Iranian government wrote on Twitter, “Iran whipped the Islamic world into a frenzy over The Satanic Verses, Iran put a bounty on Rushdie’s head. We can imagine there are parties on the streets in the Islamic Republic right now”

Featured image courtesy of  Terry J. Allen via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.

Khushboo is a Twitter Editor at Empoword Journalism. She is an Award-nominated lifestyle and pop culture journalist, writer, and budding entrepreneur aiming to break down the boundaries of cultural stigma and shame attached to mental health and sexual health and bring marginalised topics to light. Send your stories, tips, and press announcements to khushboomalhotrafreelance@gmail.com

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