Salman Rushdie on ventilator after being stabbed in New York

Author Salman Rushdie is reported to be put on a ventilator after being stabbed in New York.

Rushdie was stabbed on stage just before he was about to give a lecture at a literary event on Friday in southwestern New York state.

He was airlifted to the hospital following the attack where he spent hours in surgery.

The controversial author was put on a ventilator and unable to speak on Friday evening.

Andrew Wylie, his book agent, shared an update on his health in an email to the Reuters news agency stating, “The news is not good. Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

The local police confirming the stabbing incident in a statement said, “an assailant rushed to the stage and lunged at the 75-year-old writer just as he was being introduced to the audience.”

“Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck, and at least once in the abdomen,” according to the police. 

 

The Police identified the suspect as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey.

 

According to New York police, the investigation is still in its initial stages and there is no indication of a motive behind the attack at the moment.

The Indian-born British author has long faced death threats for his fourth novel, “The Satanic Verses”, first published in September 1988.

The book was inspired by the life of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad PBUH, as with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters.

Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses is regarded as blasphemous by Muslims and has been banned in Iran and some other countries.

Rushdie rose to prominence in 1981 when his second novel Midnight’s Children, won the Booker Prize.

The author has been currently living in the US and had lived under police protection because of threats to his life.

The controversial author was awarded a knighthood in 2007 by the United Kingdom.