Rushdie is in surgery after he was stabbed in the neck as he prepared to give speech in Chautauqua, in upstate New York
Australian Broadcasting CorporationI was sitting about 14 or 15 rows back from the stage, it’s a fairly large amphitheatre, here we call it the Amp. It seats a few thousand people and it’s a covered amphitheatre and I was just settling into my seat around 10.45am, a few minutes beforehand, we knew this was going to be a very popular event, he is a very well-known speaker, author, novelist and proponent of human rights.
One of the hosts for the event, one of the staff members of the Chautauqua Institution was describing the program and shortly after he started talking, a man rushed onto the stage and repeatedly and viciously stabbed Salman Rushdie. And there were just gaps of shock from the audience, we were all sitting down, many of us stood up. A few courageous and compassionate people went up the stage and it was just a really horrible act of intolerance and violence to witness.
Le Van said Rushdie’s attacker “was trying to stab him as many times as possible before he was subdued”, saying he believed the man “was trying to kill” the author. It’s really difficult for those who of us who have been members of the Chautauqua community for some years because part of the mission of the Chautauqua movement when it started in the late 1800s in the United States was partly to embrace controversy as part of diversity. And so people come here with open minds and open hearts. They try to listen and learn and part of doing that is sometimes… arguing with each other.
So, to see that community pierced by someone who just had this level of intolerance and rage within himself does harm to Salman Rushdie, and we’re all very hoping for a speedy recovery for him, but it’s really just been devastating to the community.
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