New Delhi: Booker Prize winner and author of The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie was attacked on August 12 in New York, USA. Salman Rushdie was getting death threats for the last several years. He was attacked when Rushdie was about to speak at an event in western New York. Rushdie, 75, was taken to hospital and underwent surgery, covered in blood after the attack.
Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wyllie, said Salman Rushdie was on a ventilator on Friday evening. His liver was damaged due to the attack. In addition, they are at risk of losing one eye. According to local police, Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck. The attacker has been taken into custody by the police. Police have identified the attacker as Hadi Matar. He is 24 years old and hails from Fairview, New Jersey.
Police say that why the attacker attacked, his motive is not yet known. At the same time, the help of the FBI is also being taken to find out the reason for the attack. The Indian Express wrote that an Associated Press reporter saw the attacker attack, Rushdie, on stage at the Chautauqua Institute. According to the reporter, the attacker stabbed Rushdie 10 to 15 times, after which he fell to the floor.
In 1988, Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses novel was viewed by Muslims as blasphemy. The Muslim community alleges that it depicted a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. During that time there were violent protests against Rushdie around the world. At least 45 people were killed in the riots over the book. 12 people were also involved from Rushdie’s hometown of Mumbai.
On 14 February 1989, Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on Salman Rushdie for insulting Islam. In which a reward of more than $3 million was placed on him. After which Rushdie kept hiding from place to place for the next nine years. After the release of the fatwa, Rushdie faced several threats.
In a 1989 interview with Channel 4, Rushdie said, “If you don’t want to read a book, you don’t need to read it. It’s hard to be angry with The Satanic Verses. It needs a thorough and long duration to read. This is a novel of 1.25 lakh words.
Nine days after the publication of The Satanic Verses, the book was banned by the then Rajiv Gandhi government for hurting religious sentiments in India. Incidentally, India was the first country to ban the book. However, Rushdie said that at the time the book was banned in India, no copy of it was available in India. Apart from this, this book was banned in many countries including Bangladesh, South Africa, Sudan, and Kenya.
Rushdie is a British American writer of Indian origin. Born in Mumbai, Salman Rushdie has been living in America for the last 20 years. He has been awarded many important awards. He received death threats from Iran in the 1980s for his writings. Iran offered a reward of more than $3 million for the person who killed Rushdie.
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