Amid a controversy over shooting of the film 'Brick Lane' following protests by some Bangladeshis in Britain, India-born author Salman Rushdie has attacked his literary rival Germaine Greer for allegedly supporting the protestors. Producers this week took police advice and abandoned filming in the street in the wake of protests by Bangladeshis who live in large numbers in London's district of Brick Lane, which is the title of the film. The opponents claimed that Monica Ali's novel by the same name on which the film is based is insulting towards Bangladeshis. The novel by Ali, who is also of Bangladeshi origin, had earlier been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Joining the issue with Greer, Rushdie, in a letter published in the Guardian today, denounced her support for the Brick Lane activists as "philistine, sanctimonious, and disgraceful, but it is not unexpected."