In the United States, an unknown man attacked the writer Salman Rushdie while he was giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Education Center.
This is reported by the Associated Press.
According to the journalist of the agency, an unknown man broke into the stage of the educational center and began to beat Rushdie with fists or a knife, after which the 75-year-old writer fell to the floor. The attacker was neutralized.
After the incident, the audience was evacuated from the lecture.
In 1988, Salman Rushdieʼs book The Satanic Verses was banned in Iran. Many Muslims consider it blasphemy. In 1989, then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a decree calling for Rushdieʼs death. In Iran, a reward of $3.3 million is offered for the murder of the writer.
The Iranian government has long distanced itself from Khomeiniʼs decree, but public sentiment against Rushdie has persisted. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation increased the reward for Rushdieʼs assassination from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
At the time, Rushdie dismissed the threat, saying there was "no evidence" that people were interested in the reward. The writer published his memoirs "Joseph Anton", in which he talks about the Iranian decree. The title of the book comes from the pseudonym Rushdie used while in hiding.
- Salman Rushdieʼs novel "Midnightʼs Children" won the Man Booker Prize in 1981, but his name became known around the world only after "The Satanic Verses".