Salman Rushdie was attacked at a gathering for creatives at an education institution in upstate New York where 100,000 people assemble each summer for ‘community and personal improvement.’
The author was ready to deliver a talk on City of Asylum, a Pittsburgh-based haven for writers facing persecution when she was knifed in the neck on stage.
The event was part of the Chautauqua Institution’s regular summer lecture series. Thousands of people travel to attend the non-profit center’s artistic and spiritual programs.
Rushdie, 75, was set to give a speech with Henry Reese, the co-founder and president of City of Asylum.
He went there for a conversation about the United States as a safe haven for authors and other artists in exile, as well as a haven for artistic freedom.
His address was scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. and would be a “discussion of the United States as a shelter for authors and other artists in exile and as a haven for freedom of creative expression.”
Prior to his appearance at the prison, Rushdie gave a lecture in 1997 that spurred Reese to start City of Asylum, according to the group.
According to the organization’s website, this is not the first time Rushdie has participated in a lecture series offered by the institution.
The Chautauqua Institution, established in 1874 as a “vacation learning” center, is a non-profit institution based on Chautauqua Lake near Buffalo, New York.
According to their website, the organization is “committed to the investigation of the finest in human values and the enrichment of life via a program that investigates the significant religious, social, and political concerns of our times.”
During the summer, almost 100,000 individuals visit Chautauqua Institution in pursuit of relief, community, and personal improvement.
‘And every summer, they locate it,’ says the website.
However, tragedy struck on Friday morning when the writer was assaulted while performing on stage at the event.
Blood was spotted spattered on the wall behind where Rushdie was assaulted, as well as on a chair.
‘On August 12, 2022, at around 11 a.m., a male suspect came up onto the platform and assaulted Rushdie and an interviewer,’ according to New York state police.
‘Rushdie received an apparent knife wound to the neck and was flown to a nearby hospital by helicopter.
‘His health is unknown. “A slight head injury occurred to the interviewer.” Hundreds of individuals in the audience were removed after gasping at the sight of the assault this morning.
‘We are dealing with an emergency issue,’ stated a representative for the Chautauqua Institution. At this moment, I am unable to provide any other information.’
Tony Blair, the author’s buddy, honoured him in Britain in 2007 “for contributions to writing.”
Rushdie had previously received death threats for his work, allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran in his book The Satanic Verses.
He published the Satanic Verses, which caused a cultural war in the United Kingdom in 1988, with demonstrations and book burnings taking place.
Pakistan outlawed the book, while Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa – a death sentence – in February 1989.
Khomeini asked for the execution of Rushdie and his publishers, as well as for Muslims to alert anyone who could murder him if they couldn’t.
The fatwa, or “spiritual opinion,” came after a wave of book burnings in Britain and unrest around the Muslim world that killed 60 people and wounded hundreds more.
When a $3 million reward was placed on Rushdie’s head, the British government was forced to foot the bill for round-the-clock protection.
He was forced to go into hiding for a decade while under police protection, and it was previously claimed that he received a “kind of Valentine’s letter” from Iran each year, letting him know that the government had not forgotten its threat to murder him.