SHis writings earned him several death threats from Iran in the 1980s. Author Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage Friday as he prepared to give a talk in New York state . According to an Associated Press (AP) reporter, a man stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution, before stabbing Salman Rushdie as he was introduced. The assailant was subdued.
New York State Police say Salman Rushdie was apparently stabbed in the neck, reports the BBC. He was transported by helicopter to a hospital in the region, his condition is not yet known. The person who was to give the floor to the writer was also “slightly injured in the head”, adds the police. The suspect was taken into custody.
The Chautauqua Institution, a cultural center, said in a statement that it was “coordinating with law enforcement and emergency services to respond to the public following today’s attack on Salman Rushdie”. Witnesses in the amphitheater, including journalists, said on Twitter that the room had been “evacuated”.
READ ALSOIn 1989, the fatwa against “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie
Since 1988, the work of Salman Rushdie The Satanic Verses is banned in Iran, considered blasphemous in the eyes of many Muslims. The following year, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against the writer, calling for his death. Additionally, a bounty of nearly $3 million is offered to anyone who kills Salman Rushdie.
Although the Iranian government has long distanced itself from Rouhollah Khomeini’s fatwa, bitterness towards the British author remains strong. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation increased the bounty for his head from $2.8 million to $3.3 million. Salman Rushdie dismissed the threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” anyone was interested in the award. That same year, Rushdie published his Memoirs, Joseph Antonon the fatwa.
The political class rises
“Symbol of resistance”, “despicable”, “intolerable”… the political class rose up after the attack on Salman Rushdie. The president of the Renaissance group in the Assembly Aurore Bergé described in a tweet Rushdie as “the very expression of freedom, he is the face, the voice, the interpreter” despite “the incessant threats”. Rennaissance MEP Nathalie Loiseau sent her “unreserved support” to “the permanent target of intolerance, talented and courageous defender of freedom of opinion”.
“It is a symbol of resistance against Islamist totalitarianism that has been attacked,” reacted on Twitter the president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella. “This attack proves that the Islamists will never disarm,” added the mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot, candidate for the head of the National Rally. “The religious fanatics who launched a fatwa against him undoubtedly bear the responsibility”, vilified the deputy Insoumis Alexis Corbière. “Stabbed by Islamist hatred”, castigated the communist leader Fabien Roussel.
Boris Vallaud, leader of the Socialist deputies condemned a “serious and intolerable” attack. “It is freedom that is under attack”, lambasted the president of the environmental group in the Assembly Julien Bayou, speaking of a “despicable fatwa”. For former right-wing presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse, Salman Rushdie “embodies freedom of expression in the face of Islamist totalitarians”.
President LR of the Grand Est region assured that “his fight against fanaticism is an example and shows that it must be our requirement and vigilance in the face of obscurantism.
Late Friday evening, Emmanuel Macron also spoke about the attack on Salman Rushdie. He spoke of a man who “embodies freedom and the fight against obscurantism”. He also added: “His fight is ours, universal. »
For 33 years, Salman Rushdie has embodied freedom and the fight against obscurantism. Hate and barbarism have just struck him, cowardly. His fight is ours, universal. Today, more than ever, we are at his side.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 12, 2022
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