British writer Salman Rushdie, who issued a fatwa to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 over his novel The Satanic Verses, was attacked Friday at a lecture hall in western New York. American media.
The writer’s agent later reported that Rushdie “was wearing a respirator and unable to speak.”
He stated, “The news is not good and Rushdie could lose one eye, the nerves in his arms have been severed and his liver has been cut and damaged.”
The NYPD confirmed that Rushdie was stabbed in the neck, noting that he also suffered a minor head injury.
The writer was taken by helicopter for treatment after he was attacked.
Rushdie’s agent said the writer had surgery, and the New York state governor said a police officer saved Rushdie’s life when he was attacked.
The NYPD identified the assailant as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey, and the motive for the attack is still unknown.
Hours after the incident, police indicated that Rushdie was still undergoing an emergency operation, explaining that those present managed to shoot down the assailant and apprehend him.
Iran has offered a reward of around $3 million to anyone who kills British writer Rushdie.
Rushdie was stabbed while speaking at the Chutokoa Foundation after he was attacked by a man with a knife and punched and stabbed, causing the famous writer to fall to the ground.
In a video circulating on social media, Rushdie can be seen lying on the ground while being rescued from several bystanders while the assailant was apprehended and thrown to the ground by those present.
Rushdie, one of the most popular and controversial writers of the 20th century, is a British Indian novelist and novelist. He wrote several novels and short stories, which to this day are of interest to both critics and the public.
And this sparked controversy and mass protests, culminating in Khomeini’s issuance of a fatwa to shed his blood against the backdrop of The Satanic Verses, a book about his life in recent years.
The 75-year-old writer was born in India and has lived in the United States since 2000, where he was named an Outstanding Writer by New York University in 2015.