(CNN) –– The writer Salman Rushdie, winner of the main world literary prize winners, suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck following he was attacked before giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, state police said. Authorities added that they immediately detained one suspect.
An NYPD officer at the scene arrested the suspect, according to authorities.
Rushdie was airlifted to a local hospital, police said. At the moment his status is unknown. In addition, it was indicated that an interviewer also suffered a minor head injury.
An AP reporter reported seeing a man on stage who began “punching or stabbing” the 75-year-old novelist before the event.
Medical service personnel and police were called to the scene, according to a Chautauqua spokesman who did not provide details or confirm information regarding the incident.
New York Governor Katy Hochul thanked first responders for their quick response to the attack on Salman Rushdie. And she added that her prayers are with the novelist and his family following the “horrible event.”
Witness describes attack on Salman Rushdie
A witness in the audience told CNN that he saw Rushdie being attacked on stage at the Chautauqua Institution. However, he detailed that he did not see a weapon. According to him, the attack occurred when Rushdie was being introduced on stage for a conference around 10:45 am local time this Friday.
The witness was checking his phone and heard some people in the audience screaming. When he looked up, the witness recounted that he saw a man wearing what he believes was a black shirt on stage “punching” him, referring to Rushdie. The person said that he did not hear the man say anything during the attack and that he did not see a weapon.
“He was attacked, he was attacking him, undoubtedly,” the witness said.
He added that some people in the audience ran up on stage to stop the attacker, while others ran to Salman Rushdie’s aid. He also stated that there seemed to be liquid near Rushdie, but that he mightn’t say what exactly it was. He mentioned that it might have been coffee, or water, or blood. The witness explained that it was difficult to determine Rushdie’s condition from where he was sitting in the audience, regarding 20 meters from the stage. He also noted that some retired medical professionals have offered to provide immediate help on stage.
“It was a real shock,” said the witness. “This is a peaceful community and it’s quite shocking that this has happened in a place like this.”
Salman Rushdie, a longtime author, became known worldwide in the 1980s following his novel “The Satanic Verses” sparked protests across the Muslim world. In 1989, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei of Iran called Rushdie blasphemous and said the play was an insult to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. He also issued a fatwa (religious edict) once morest the author, calling for his death.
As a result, the writer spent a decade under British protection, before the Iranian government announced that it would no longer seek to enforce the edict in 1998.
Salman Rushdie’s life
Salman Rushdie in Austria in 2019 (Credit: HERBERT NEUBAUER/APA/AFP via Getty Images)
Rushdie was born in India in 1947, of British and American nationality. He is the son of a successful Muslim businessman in India. He received his education from him in England, first at Rugby School and then at Cambridge University. There he completed a master’s degree in history.
After college, he started working as a copywriter in London. In 1975 he published his first novel, “Grimus”.
Rushdie’s approach to sensitive political and religious issues made him a controversial figure. But it was the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” his fourth novel, that haunted him for more than three decades.
The writer, who has long been an advocate for racial justice and free speech, told CNN in April that social unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd was inevitable.
“I’m a huge supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement,” he noted. “The trigger was the murder of George Floyd. But, the roots are in much older grievances. And frankly, it’s regarding time people paid attention,” he said at the time.
He also stressed that the key issue is how minorities are sometimes treated in the United States. “The problem is how the state routinely treats Black people and how endangered Black lives continue to be,” she said.
With information from Matt Carey, Mallika Kallinga, Matt Morales and Lauren Said-Moorhouse.
