Find out 8 books you cannot buy in India
Incidents in the past have shown India's tolerance towards the culture of bans and literature has been no exception to it. Here are authors who faced the wrath of bans.
Writer Salman Rushdie was quick to react to former finance minister P Chidambaram's statement on the ban of his novel "The Satanic Verses" being wrongful. He questioned how long would it take to correct the long-pending mistake.
A ban on the controversial novel was imposed during the regime of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Chidambaram clarified that his stance on the ban was the same 20 years ago as well.
However, he expressed his concerns over the growing intolerance in the country, "there is a rush of bans. Ban jeans, ban authors, ban food, ban artist, ban travel, ban NGO," he said.
India as a society is immune to culture of ban, and recent incidents are a testimony to that. Find out 8 authors who faced the wrath of bans for their work:
1. The Satanic Verses
British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie has been constantly threatened by religious fanatics ever since his book "The Satanic Verses" got published in 1988. The author even had to cancel his session in the Jaipur Literature Festival because of alleged threats from some Muslim groups.
The Satanic Verses was banned after Muslim groups protested and claimed it had blasphemous content and that it hurt their religious sentiments.
2. The Hindus: An Alternative History
Wendy Doniger, an American Indologist, authored the novel which was criticised and became subject of litigation in India in 2014. The lawsuit was filed on the grounds of "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the feelings of any religious community."
The author has described the book as an "alternative to the narrative of Hindu history that they tell." After the book was withdrawn from the Indian market by its Indian publisher, the country was hit by a widespread debate on the state of free speech and country's democratic structure.
3. The Heart of India
Published in 1958, Alexander Campbell's The Heart of India was banned by the Indian government in 1959 for being "repulsive". The work of Time magazine's New Delhi correspondent is a fictionalised and hilarious account of Indian bureaucracy and economic policies.
4. An Area of Darkness
Written by V.S. Naipaul in 1964, this travelogue elucidates Naipaul's experiences while touring India in the early 1960s. The book was banned in India for its "negative portrayal of India and its people".
It was the first part of the well acclaimed Indian trilogy written by Naipaul.
5. Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence
Jaswant Singh's book was banned for portraying Jinnah in an objective manner and being sympathetic towards him. Singh criticised the policies of Nehru and Sardar Patel, two revered politicians of the country.
It was banned by the BJP-ruled Gujarat government in August 2009 on the grounds of "derogatory" references to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. However, the Gujarat High Court overturned the ban. Jaswant Singh was also expelled by the BJP in 2009 stating that the party will not compromise on matters of ideology.
6. The Price of Power
Written by American journalist Seymour Hersh, the book presented former Prime Minister Morarji as a CIA informant. He was accused of giving out secrets to the intelligence agency of the United States.
Morarji filed a case against the book due to which it was temporarily banned in 1983.
7. Lajja
Set against the backdrop of anti-Hindu riots in Bangladesh after the demolition of Babri Masjid, Taslima Nasreen's Lajja is about religious extremism. The book was banned in 1993 for offending Muslim sentiments.
The writer clarified that she did not critcise Islam in Lajja, she considers the book as a symbol of protest against violence, hatred and killings in the name of religion.
The book was banned in Bangladesh first and then some states of India
8. The Moor's Last Sigh
Banned in 1995 the book authored by Salman Rushdie faced protests from the right-wing party Shiv Sena as a character in the book resembled party leader Balasaheb Thackeray. Prime P. V. Narasimha Rao unofficially banned it.
The writer also named a dog in the book as Jawaharlal, apparently after former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. When the publishers were asked to stop the sale of the book, they approached the Supreme Court of India which declared the ban as unconstitutional in February 1996.
Although, book sellers were still reluctant to sell it in Maharashtra due to fear of vandalism.
