On August 12, local time, when the 75-year-old British writer Russidi was preparing to start his speech at The Chotoqua College in western New York State, the Associated Press reporter witnessed a man rushing onto the stage to attack Rusidi, Who fell to the ground and the man was subdued on the spot. New York State Police later confirmed that Russidi had an obvious stab wound in the neck and had used a helicopter to take Russidi to the hospital for treatment, and the injuries were unknown.
The Associated Press reporter who directly attacked the scene said that Salman Rushdie was preparing to speak when suddenly a man rushed to the stage to attack Russidi, as if punching or holding a knife, about 10 to 15 times, and Russidi immediately fell to the ground. In addition to Russidi on the stage, there was also a host responsible for interviewing Russidi, and the host had a slight head injury.
Immediately after the incident, Rusidi was surrounded by a small group of people, lifting Russidi's legs and allowing blood to flow back into the chest cavity. There were about 2,500 people in the audience, and many people exclaimed at the same time at the time of the crime, and soon the organizers quickly evacuated the audience.
The Associated Press reported earlier that Russidi's current injuries are unknown. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that the New York State Police stated that the time of the crime was about 11 a.m. Eastern Time on the 12th, and Russidi had an obvious stab wound in the neck and had used a helicopter to send Russidi to the hospital for emergency treatment. The police also confirmed that the perpetrator was a man who had been arrested and detained by the police.
CNN reported that a witness said the host introduced Rosidi to the audience around 10:45 a.m., when a roar came from the audience and a man in a black T-shirt rushed onto stage to attack Ms. Rosidi. An Rabbi rabbi was also present, and according to him, the attack lasted about 20 seconds, the Associated Press reported.
A spokesman for the Chautauqua Institution told Reuters: "We are dealing with an emergency. At this point I can't reveal further details. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, "He [Rusidi] is alive and has been safely transported to the hospital by air."
The New York State Police announced that the police have launched an investigation into the incident.
According to the Daily Mail, the Indian-British writer Rosidi was hunted down in 1989 by orders of Iranian leaders for publishing the novel The Satanic Verses.
The Psalms of the Devil alludes to islam's prophet Muhammad being deceived by Satan and is therefore considered a blasphemy against Islam, which became banned in Iran in 1988. When Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered Muslims around the world to hunt down Russidi on February 14, 1989, Khomeini believed that the history books questioned the credibility of the Islamic holy scripture, the Quran, and defamed Muhammad. Rusidi thus began to live in exile and hid everywhere.
The anger caused by "The Devil's Psalm" was not limited to Rusidi alone, as many as 60 people were killed by the book's translators, publishers, and others. The following year Rosidi apologized, but Iran did not lift the killing order until 1998. However, the successor Supreme Spiritual Leader Hamini declared: "Do not support nor prevent the assassination of Russidi", implying that Russidi will not be spared.
Religious groups in Iran offered a $2.7 million bounty to anyone who carried out the assassination order. By 2012, the bounty figure had been raised to $3.3 million. Lusidi later published a book under a pseudonym revealing that as soon as the hunting order came out, his life was like a prison, not only changing his name and living in simplicity, but also having bodyguards accompanying him when he went out.
Born in 1947 to a Muslim family in Mumbai, India, Russidi moved to England after secondary school and then studied history at Cambridge University. His second novel, Midnight's Children, won the 1981 Booker Prize. Russidi currently lives in New York, USA.