Journalists, writers, celebrities and politicians reacted with shock and horror after author Salman Rushdie was attacked onstage at an event in New York state on Friday.
Rushdie was attacked as he was about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqu Institution in western New York, according to witnesses. Police later said he had been taken to hospital with an apparent stab wound to the neck.
Rushdie’s writings, which many Muslims consider blasphemous, has led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, that called for Rushdie’s death.
Britain’s prime ministerial candidate, Rishi Sunak, tweeted: "Shocked to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York. A champion of free speech and artistic freedom. He’s in our thoughts tonight."
Columnist Tarek Fatah tweeted, "In Solidarity with Sir @SalmanRushdie My he recover from his wounds and live long to defy the medieval monsters who have never read, nor can write with #SalmanRushdie’s wit and grace."
In Solidarity with Sir @SalmanRushdie My he recover from his wounds and live long to defy the medieval monsters who have never read, nor can write with #SalmanRushdie’s wit and grace. pic.twitter.com/JiblwCEXeP
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) August 12, 2022
Condemning the "barbaric attack on Salman Rushdie", lyricist and film writer Javed Akhtar said, "I hope that NY police and the court will take the strongest action possible against the attacker."
Bangladeshi-Swedish writer Taslima Nasreen expressed her shock over the incident saying she “never thought such a thing would happen” and added that “if Salman Rushdie is attacked, anyone who is critical of Islam can be attacked.”
I just learned that Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York. I am really shocked. I never thought it would happen. He has been living in the West, and he has been protected since 1989. If he is attacked, anyone who is critical of Islam can be attacked. I am worried.
— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) August 12, 2022
Iranian-American journalist, author and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad condemned the attack, saying “You can kill us but you cannot kill the idea of writing & fighting for our dignity.”
You can kill us but you cannot kill the idea of writing & fighting for our dignity.
— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) August 12, 2022
I condemn the barbaric attack on Salman Rushdie.
After surviving a kidnapping and an assassination plot in New York, I won’t feel safe on US soil until the US take strong action against terror. pic.twitter.com/AGEwlxWFxQ
Britain's business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Friday he was horrified to learn that author Salman Rushdie had been attacked in the United States.
"Freedom of expression - in speech and in writing - is the foundation of a democratic society and must be cherished. As Rushdie said, we should protect writers as much as writing. I sincerely hope he recovers," Kwarteng said on Twitter.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SALMAN RUSHDIE
A British citizen of Indian origin, Salman Rushdie, has lived in the US for the past 20 years. After the controversy over his fourth book, The Satanic Verses (1988), he remained out of the public eye, mostly living in the UK under government protection. Despite the threats, he produced several novels throughout the 1990s.
His first novel came out in 1975 — followed by over a dozen works, including non-fiction — but one of his seminal works is about modern India, Midnight's Children(1981), for which he won the Booker Prize.
In 2007, he was knighted — given the ceremonial title of 'Sir' — by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature.
(With agency input)