Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times on August 12, 2022, during an event in New York. Rushdie who suffered a stab wound to his neck was airlifted to a hospital. Rushdie has been receiving death threats from Muslims since his fourth book, The Satanic Verses was published in 1988. The book sparked outrage among Muslims across the world. The book has been banned in many countries, including India. Rushdie was forced into hiding for nearly ten years.

Rushdie was scheduled to give a talk on artistic freedom at the Chautauqua Institution, which is located about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, USA. Rushdie is undergoing surgery at a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania. As per the statement given by Major Eugene Staniszewski of the New York State Police after the attack:

A male suspect ran up onto stage at a speaking event and attacked Salman Rushdie and an interviewer at 11 am (local time), today in Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua. Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to his neck & was transported by helicopter to a hospital.

The suspect has been identified by the New York police as 24 years old Hadi Matar, who reportedly hails from Fairview, New Jersey.

As informed by the agent of Rushdie, Andrew Wylie:

Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged.

The moderator of the event Henry Reese who was with Rushdie on the stage has also suffered a minor head injury. Reese was taken to a local hospital. Reese is the co-founder of a non-profit that provides sanctuary to writers exiled under the threat of persecution.

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British-American novelist, who catapulted to fame with his second novel titled Midnight’s Children in 1981. Rushdie won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India in Midnight’s Children.

The Satanic Verses had sparked anti-Rushdie riots by Muslims in India which killed several people. A year after the book’s release in 1989, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa for Rushdie’s execution. The reward of $ 3 million was offered in the fatwa. The bounty over Rushdie’s head remains active, and a quasi-official Iranian religious Islamic foundation added a further $500,000 to the reward in 2012. The death threats and bounty forced Rushdie into hiding for almost a decade. In 1991 the Japanese translator of The Satanic Verses was stabbed to death. A few months later, an Italian translator was also stabbed and the book’s Norwegian publisher, William Nygaard, was shot; but both survived.