"Ban" on Wendy Doniger's Book
Well, I happened to read quite a few stories, news items, emails, etc. on the subject.
A couple of points jumped out at me:
- Apparently, Penguin withdrew the book in response to a court case.
- Apparently, there was (and is) no Government ban on the book.
- Apparently, a whole lot of supposedly fringe elements belonging to the "right-wing" Hindutva groups had raised a lot of objections to the book.
- To the best of my limited knowledge, Penguin is a publisher of repute, and a responsible one at that.
- Penguin, being the kind of publisher it happens to be, is unlikely to be a "pushover" which can be coerced into taking such a decision
- The mainstream media seems to be screaming from the roof tops about how such a "ban" happens to be a war against "Freedom of Expression"
- I'm yet to locate a single article / interview in any mainstream media which even claims to give specific details of what were the objections raised against the book and why Penguin chose to not merely withdraw, but also chose to promise to destroy all possible copies of the book!
Why is it that all of us are privy to one side of the story? Is this true freedom of expression? Will someone officially throw some light on the shady truth? If Penguin has indeed fallen prey to "lumpen elements" as people claim, has the Government filed any suo moto case against those "lumpen elements"? If not, why not?
On the contrary, if Penguin has genuinely felt that the objections raised against the book are indeed justified, why can't someone let us know the real truth in full detail?
The truth must come out - Or else, people will tend to assume anything they please, which is never a desirable state of affairs.
Regards,
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