Penguin's withdrawal of The Hindus causes international outcry

Major writers including Arundhati Roy and Neil Gaiman condemn 'egregious' suppression of Wendy Doniger's book under pressure from Hindu nationalistsMajor authors from Arundhati Roy to William Dalrymple and Neil Gaiman have condemned Penguin's controversial removal of Wendy Doniger's book The Hindus from circulation in India, a withdrawal which has been described as an "egregious violation of free speech" and "deplorable" by the international literary community.The decision is "shocking, appalling, dreadful and entirely negative," Dalrymple told the Guardian, while Roy, the Booker prize-winning author of The God of Small Things, has called on Penguin to explain why it "caved in". Doniger's widely praised book was pulled from India following a lawsuit from the Hindu group Shiksha Bachao Andolan accusing the University of Chicago professor of "hurt[ing] the religious feelings of millions of Hindus" – a violation of the Indian penal code which prohibits "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs". The lawsuit, which also says Doniger's book is "a shallow, distorted and non-serious presentation of Hinduism" which is "riddled with heresies and factual inaccuracies", has been played out over the last four years, and according to the petitioner's lawyer, earlier this week publisher Penguin agreed to withdraw the book, and to pulp copies.The move immediately triggered an avalanche of protest.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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