Author Salman Rushdie ‘stabbed in neck’ during an event in New York

NEW YORK: Prominent British writer Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York on Friday. The attacker rushed to the stage of the event attended by Salman Rushdie and stabbed him in the neck and punched him in the face.

Indian-born Rushdie was about to deliver a lecture in western New York’s Chautauqua institute. While the anchor was introducing him, the assailant ran onto the stage and started attacking. The 75-year-old fell on stage following the attack and was immediately airlifted to hospital. The man suspected of carrying out the attack has been arrested.

The man who was supposed to be interviewing Rushdie suffered a minor head injury, New York police said. The event started at around 11 am local time.

Salman Rushdie has been living in the US for the past 20 years. His book ‘The Satanic Verses’, released in 1988, sparked a religious blasphemy controversy, with Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death. Some Muslims considered this book disrespectful to the Prophet Mohammed.