Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed before delivering a talk at the Chautauqua Institution, New York. The Booker Prize winner has been mired in controversy since his book The Satanic Verses came out in 1988 and angered the Muslim community by disparaging Prophet Mohammad. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan responded to the stabbing, in an official statement from the White House. 

He said, “Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is appalling. All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing.” 

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Sullivan, in a tweet from his personal account, said “The attack on Salman Rushdie is appalling. We’re all praying for his speedy recovery. And we’re thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping him so swiftly.” 

Rushdie’s assailant was identified as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey resident, whose now-defunct social media profiles show him to be an Ayatollah Khomeini sympathizer. In 1989, the then-Supreme Leader of Iran issued a fatwa against Rushdie for hurting Muslim sentiments in The Satanic Verses. 

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Ironically Rushdie was the Chautauqua Institution to speak on “the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression”, as per their official site. 

The 75-year-old’s agent told news outlets that Rushdie is on a ventilator and is likely to lose an eye. He’s unable to speak and the nerves in one arm have been damaged as well. 

This incident has also elicited responses from world leaders including former British PM Boris Johnson and former Exchequer of the UK, Rishi Sunak.