The 75-year-old author was stabbed as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Foundation in New York state on Friday. Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer could lose an eye, was unable to speak at the moment and had also suffered damage to his arm and liver. US police arrested a suspect named Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. British politicians, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and leadership candidate Rishi Sunak, supported free speech in their messages of support. Rushdie’s writings, considered blasphemous by many Muslims, led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his death. Salman Rushdie on ventilator after stabbing at New York event – video report Lady D’Souza, the peer who led Rushdie’s defense after the fatwa, said the incident highlighted the threats facing writers around the world. “It seems to me that there is an important lesson here, which is that nobody anywhere should ever, ever, be threatened with death for writing a novel,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “However, we seem to live in a world, despite Salman’s struggle, where this could be a possibility.” Novelist Lisa Appignanesi, former president of PEN England and a free speech activist, praised Rushdie’s “extraordinary resilience and his deep, deep courage” in the face of threats to his life. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “What happened is just horrible and horrible and I really, really hope he gets through to give us more of his brilliant intelligence,” she told Today. The British-American citizen, who was born in India, was given police protection and went into hiding in 1988 following a fatwa over his novel The Satanic Verses. He was knighted in 2007 by the Queen – which sparked protests in Iran and Pakistan. Johnson tweeted that he was “horrified” that Rushdie was attacked “while exercising a right we must never stop defending.” “My thoughts are with his loved ones at this time. We hope everyone is well,” he added. Sunak described the novelist as “a champion of free speech and artistic freedom”, adding that he was “in our thoughts”. Meanwhile, Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner wrote: “The horrific attack on Salman Rushdie in New York is appalling. I wish him well at this terrible time. “This violence is an attack on free speech and can never be the answer. His perpetrator must be immediately brought to justice.” Writers also expressed their horror at the attack. Empireland journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera tweeted: “Passed Midnight’s Children in my last exam. The Moor’s Last Sigh poster was mounted on my (pretentious) student bedroom wall. The excerpt from The Satanic Verses opens Empireland. “A lot of British Asian writers wouldn’t be writers without him. Pray that he is well.” Comedian and writer David Baddiel described the incident as “disgusting”. “It’s also appalling that there are people who think he brought this on himself or somehow deserved it,” he added.
