The Satanic Verses controversy and in December signed a declaration "affirming his Islamic faith and calling for Viking-Penguin, the publisher of "The Satanic Verses", neither to issue the book in paperback nor to allow it to be translated". This also failed to move supporters of the fatwa and by mid-2005 Rushdie was condemning Islamic fundamentalism as a A memoir of his years of hiding, titled "Joseph Anton", was published on 18 September 2012. Joseph Anton was Rushdie's secret alias. The passionate international rage of Muslims towards the book surprised many Western readers because the book was written in English, not Arabic, Urdu, Persian or
Salman Rushdie him. Police contended that they were afraid Rushdie would read from the banned "The Satanic Verses", and that the threat was real, considering imminent protests by Muslim organizations. Meanwhile, Indian authors Ruchir Joshi, Jeet Thayil, Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar abruptly left the festival, and Jaipur, after reading excerpts from Rushdie's banned novel at the festival. The four were urged to leave by organizers as there was a real possibility they would be arrested. In India the import of the book is banned via customs. A proposed video link session between Rushdie and the Jaipur Literature Festival was also cancelled