Salman Rushdie was attacked Friday in New York, suffering stab wounds to the neck and abdomen.

Controversial author Salman Rushdie, who received death threats in the 1980s because of his writing, was attacked Friday, 12 August, before giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.

A man stormed on stage and began punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. Rushdie, 75, fell to the floor, and the attacker was restrained, according to Travis Seward, general manager for 10Best at USA TODAY, who witnessed the attack.
A small group of people quickly surrounded the “The Satanic Verses” author, holding up his legs to presumably send blood to his chest. Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital, state police said. His condition was not immediately known.
The Indian-born novelist has written more than a dozen books, and six of his novels are USA TODAY bestsellers.

His 1981 “Midnight’s Children,” detailing India’s transition from British colonial rule to independence, won the Booker Prize. Other books include 1983’s “Shame,” 1990’s “Haroun and the Sea of Stories” and 2017’s “The Golden House.”

Rushdie’s most recent novel, “Quichotte,” published in 2019, puts his spin on the Miguel de Cervantes classic with a modern-day Don Quixote satirizing former President Donald Trump’s America. The book has been long listed for the Booker Prize.
The author is best known for his controversial book “The Satanic Verses,” which was published in 1988 and has been banned in multiple countries.
Salman Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1980s was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in New York.
What is the controversy surrounding Rushdie’s books?

Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” is considered blasphemous by many Muslims and led to its ban in Iran. The book tells a fictional tale of the holy prophet Muhammad (pbuh) experiencing a demented dream. The book mocked or at least contained mocking references to the Prophet Muhammad and other aspects of Islam.

Book bans are on the rise. What are the most banned books and why?

Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.

Rushdie has said he wrote the book without fear of censorship or death sentences and considered intellectual freedom a birthright. He also has dismissed the threats, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward.