Indian origin British–American novelist Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator and unable to speak after being stabbed on stage in the US, his agent says.
Andrew Wylie said the 75-year-old author could lose an eye after the attack at an event in New York state.
Mr Rushdie went into police protection in the UK in 1988 after Iran’s supreme leader called for his assassination over his novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims considered blasphemous.
Police arrested the suspect, identified as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey.
The New York State Police said the suspect ran onto a stage and attacked Mr. Rushdie and an interviewer at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York state.
Mr. Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and abdomen, authorities said. He was airlifted to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“Salman is likely to lose one eye; the nerves in his arm have been severed and his liver has been punctured and damaged,” his agent said.
Police have yet to confirm a motive or charges as they are now obtaining a search warrant to examine the backpack and electronic devices found at the center.