Salman Rushdie attacked on stage in upstate New York

WASHINGTON: India-born author Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage during a speaking engagement in upstate New York on Friday, almost 33 years after Iran issued fatwa on him for the novel Satanic Verses.
The as yet unnamed attacker was brought down by other attendees who rushed on stage to protect the writer. Rushdie was given immediate medical attention, including reportedly for stab wounds in the neck, before being evacuated in a medivac to a nearby hospital.
Follow live updates
The Mumbai-born Rushdie, 75, was attending the CHQ 2022 literary event in Chautauqua, near Buffalo, when he was attacked on stage just before he was to speak. Henry Reese, the interviewer who was talking to him, was also reported injured in the attack.
Dozens of people who formed the audience at the event witnessed the attack and some of them rushed on stage to bring down the assailant. He was then detained by police.
Read also: Rushdie was hit 10-15 times during attack, eyewitness says
Photos on social media of the alleged assailant being led away by police showed a young man with close cropped hair.

Rushdie has received death threats for his writing following the publication of Satanic Verses in 1988, and he had stayed out of sight for many years. But he had resumed public appearances and engagements in recent years saying he had to live his life.
“On August 12, 2022, at about 11 a.m., a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known,” the New York State police said in a statement.

Shock and consternation followed among writers worldwide at the attack. “I hope Salman Rushdie is okay,” tweeted Stephen King. “I am really shocked. I never thought it would happen. He has been living in the West, and he has been protected since 1989. If he is attacked, anyone who is critical of Islam can be attacked. I am worried,” tweeted Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.