Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage in western New York State on Friday, US media reported. He was about to give a lecture. His condition is not immediately known. An Associated Press reporter saw a man rush onto the stage and stab Salman Rushdie as he was being introduced. The assailant was subdued.
Contacted by AFP, police in Chautauqua County, where the writer was to speak, confirmed that a person had been stabbed without specifying at this stage the identity of the victim.
Salman Rushdie has faced death threats since the 1980s. Rushdie’s book, “The Satanic Verses”, has been banned in Iran since 1988 because many Muslims consider it blasphemous.
A year later, former Iranian Revolutionary Leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death.
A bounty of over $3 million was also offered to anyone who kills the writer.
The Iranian government has long distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but resentment towards Salman Rushdie persists.