Salman Rushdie was allegedly attacked while he was on his way to give a lecture at Chautauqua Institution.
An Indian-born author, his work blended magical realism and historical fiction and are mostly focused on the links, conflicts, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, with a lot of them taking place on the Indian subcontinent.
Is Salman Rushdie Dead After Attack?
News outlets said that author Salman Rushdie was attacked on Friday in New York, US, moments before he was set to deliver a lecture. In the 1980s, he received death threats from Iran because of his writing.
As Rushdie was being introduced, an Associated Press reporter saw a man attack the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and start hitting or stabbing Rushdie. The author was carried off or knocked to the ground, and the man was bound.
Iran has outlawed Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” since 1988 because many Muslims view it as disrespectful. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late president of Iran, called for Rushdie’s execution in a fatwa, or decree, that was published a year later. Rushdie’s assassination has apparently attracted a bounty of more than $3 million.
The British author William Dalrymple, who lives in Delhi, was among the first to respond and hoped that Mr. Rushdie wasn’t wounded. He tweeted, “A dreadful day for literature, expression freedom, and writers worldwide. Poor Salman, I hope he doesn’t get wounded and gets well soon,”
What Happened To Padma Lakshmi’s Ex-Husband? Salman Rushdie Is Mercilessly Attacked
Threats were made against Padma Lakshmi’s ex-husband, Mr. Rushdie, 75, notably in the late 1980s because of his book, The Satanic Verses, which has been prohibited in Iran since 1988 due to claims that it is disrespectful to Islam. The supreme leader of Iran also issued a bounty for his assassination, though, by 1998, the Iranian government declared it had no intention of carrying out the “fatwa” or order. If the attack is connected to that is unclear.
When “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi first met novelist Salman Rushdie in 1999, she was awestruck by his intelligence and eloquence. Lakshmi compared Rushdie’s fame in India to that of Hemingway in the United States in an interview with People Magazine.
Lakshmi told People Magazine that he truly was the best thing that had ever happened to her. It was kind of incredible that someone of that magnitude and grandeur would even somewhat be interested in her enough to want to take me out to lunch.
He wrote about her marriage to Rushdie in her frank autobiography, “Love, Loss and What We Ate,” Lakshmi and Rushdie were married and had a relatively happy marriage for the first few years. In Lakshmi’s words to People Magazine, “For me, it was amazing because I finally had somebody who understood me since he too was Indian and he was also living in the West, and he was very nimble in traversing those two worlds.” She, however, ultimately realized the turbulent nature of their relationship after only a few years together.