Knighthood of Salman Rushdie to be inflamed in any way or be exploited by other unsavory groups so as to bring our community and our noble faith into disrepute." They called for Muslims to "convey their feelings on the matter through letters to their parliamentary representatives and through local and national media...[and to take the] opportunity to correct the maligning of the character of the prophet in the book which earned its author his notoriety." Muhammad Abdul Bari, the Muslim Council's secretary-general, said "Salman Rushdie earned notoriety amongst Muslims for the highly insulting and blasphemous manner in which he portrayed early Islamic figures. The
Nicolas Walter on Salman Rushdie and his book "The Satanic Verses", Walter (along with William McIlroy) re-formed The Committee Against Blasphemy Law. It issued a "Statement Against Blasphemy Law", signed by more than 200 public figures. Walter and Barbara Smoker were attacked while counter-demonstrating during a Muslim protest against the book in May 1989. Walter's book "Blasphemy Ancient and Modern" put the Rushdie controversy into historical context. Walter also served as company secretary of G. W. Foote & Co., publishers of "The Freethinker", and was a Vice-President of the National Secular Society. Walter occasionally wrote or spoke about how secular humanists might