Penguin India to recall ‘offensive’ book on Hinduism

Professor Wendy Doniger said she was “angry and disappointed” that Penguin had withdrawn her book, ‘The Hindus’, but added that she was glad that in the age of the internet it was no longer possible to suppress a book.In a statement to Hindustan Times from Chicago, Doniger said: “I was, of course, angry and disappointed […]

Professor Wendy Doniger said she was “angry and disappointed” that Penguin had withdrawn her book, ‘The Hindus’, but added that she was glad that in the age of the internet it was no longer possible to suppress a book.
In a statement to Hindustan Times from Chicago, Doniger said: “I was, of course, angry and disappointed to see this happen, and I am deeply troubled by what it foretells for free speech in India in the present, and steadily worsening, political climate”.
She added: “And as a publisher’s daughter, I particularly wince at the knowledge that the existing books (unless they are bought out quickly by people intrigued by all the brouhaha) will be pulped”.
 Doniger, one of the prominent Indologists based at the University of Chicago, however, said that she did not blame Penguin Books, India.
 “Other publishers have just quietly withdrawn other books without making the effort that Penguin made to save this book. Penguin, India, took this book on knowing that it would stir anger in the Hindutva ranks, and they defended it in the courts for four years, both as a civil and as a criminal suit”, she said.
She added: “They were finally defeated by the true villain of this piece—the Indian law that makes it a criminal rather than civil offense to publish a book that offends any Hindu, a law that jeopardizes the physical safety of any publisher, no matter how ludicrous the accusation brought against a book.
Doniger said she was “thrilled and moved” by the many messages of support that she had received, not merely from friends and colleagues but from people in India that she had never met, who had read the book.
Thanks to the Internet, she said people in India will always be able to read books of all sorts, “including some that may offend some Hindus”.
Source: Hindustan Times