Salman Rushdie Attacked: Deadly Attack on Salman Rushdie; Deep wound on the neck, interrogation of the attacker who came in black dress

Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie (75) was stabbed to death in New York on Friday.  According to eyewitnesses, Rushdie, who had gone to lecture at an event, was punched by the assailant, followed by several stabbings with a knife.  The knife inflicted a deep wound on his neck and the upper part of the body was soaked with bleeding.  Injured by the attack, Rushdie collapsed on the stage.  The security personnel who arrived within a few moments saved him from the attacker and sent him to the hospital by helicopter.

Interrogation of the attacker

According to the report of the news agency AP, the attacker has been arrested and is being questioned.  Rushdie came into controversy for his anti-Islamic remarks in his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.  A year later, in 1989, the then Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa for his assassination.  Since then his life was in danger.

The attacker was wearing a black face mask

New York Governor Cathy Hoechl has said that necessary arrangements have been made for Rushdie's proper treatment.  According to the report of the news agency AP, his surgery is being done.  Police have not yet disclosed the identity and purpose of the attacker, wearing a black dress and black face mask.

Attended the program of Chautauqua Institution

On Friday, he went to an event organized by the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, where he was attacked before delivering a lecture.  Rushdie was about to give a lecture to about two and a half thousand people present there on the ideological freedom of writers and artists and their asylum in America.

Received US citizenship in 2016

Born in Mumbai to a Muslim family, Rushdie has lived in the UK for several decades.  In 2007, Rushdie was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for his service to literature, after which he received the title of Sir.  Rushdie moved to America after 2000.  He got US citizenship in 2016 and is currently living in New York City.

The Satanic Verses is banned in many countries

He was protected by the British police in view of the threats he received after The Satanic Verses was published.  The comments made in the novel were considered anti-Islamic by many Muslim countries and reacted sharply to them.  This novel is banned in many countries.  Iran's then radical government also announced a $3 million reward for Rushdie's assassination.

Iran's supreme leader said, fatwa is effective

Rushdie lived a life of oblivion for many years after the Iranian government issued a fatwa.  In 1998, the government of Iran said that the fatwa was not effective.  But in 2017, Khomeini's successor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran said the fatwa was still in effect.

Booker Award for Midnight's Children

Rushdie received the prestigious Booker Award in 1981 for Midnight's Children.  His new novel Victory City is scheduled to be published in February 2023.  Rushdie is an opponent of religious bigotry and is also critical of the increasing religious violence in India.  Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who is living in exile in India, has called the attack on Rushdie shocking and strongly condemned it.  Taslima has been a target of Muslim fundamentalists for excerpts from her novel Lajja.