Salman Rushdie, 75, a well-known British writer of Indian origin, was stabbed in the neck in an attack on him in New York. “State Police are investigating the attack on writer Salman Rushdie before speaking at the Chautauqua Institute in New York State,” local police said in a statement on Friday, Aug. 12.

The suspect ran onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and his interviewer. Several people immediately rushed to help the writer, the attacker was immediately captured. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. Rushdie was airlifted to a local hospital with a stab wound.

“Satanic Verses”

Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, written in 1988, caused outrage among many Muslims who saw the book as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini publicly cursed Rushdie in his fatwa and sentenced him to death. A multi-million bounty has been announced for Rushdie’s head in Iran. For a long time the writer was forced into hiding, his book was banned in several countries. For several years, Rushdie was under constant surveillance by Scotland Yard agents. In 2002, the British government received tacit assurances from Iran for the writer’s safety, and the protection was withdrawn.