Penguin Books India has decided to cease publication and pulp all remaining copies of a book by Wendy Doniger titled, The Hindus: An Alternate History. This is part of a court-backed settlement that Penguin India is reported to have signed with the religious group, Shiksha Bachao Andolan (Save Education Movement), a self-appointed watchdog on Hindi history. Excerpts of the settlement were released on social media websites.
The book was first published in 2009, and has received acclaim as well as criticism. It was the bestseller in the non-fiction category in India in 2009. The National Book Critics Circle named the book as a finalist for its 2009 book awards.
The petitioners claimed the book had been written with the intent of maligning and offending the Hindus.
An excerpt from the lawsuit stated,
“That on the book jacket of the book Lord Krishna is shown sitting on buttocks of a naked woman surrounded by other naked women. That YOU NOTICEE have depicted Lord Krishna in such a vulgar, base perverse manner to outrage religious feelings of Hindus. That YOU NOTICEE and the publisher have done this with the full knowledge that Sri Krishna is revered as a divinity and there are many temples for Sri Krishna where Hindus worship the divinity. The intent is clearly to ridicule, humiliate & defame the Hindus and denigrate the Hindu traditions.”
The petitioners cited sections 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code (India’s anti-blasphemy laws), citing the book’s line that reads- “placing the Ramayan in its historical contexts demonstrates that it is a work of fiction, created by human authors, who lived at various times”; and sections 153 (wantonly inciting a riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on basis of religion and “doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony),and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes).
The withdrawal, however, does not imply that the book has been banned. Penguin India has been widely criticised for succumbing to right-wing pressure groups, and it appears the publishers decided to give in because of the rising legal costs. Historian Ramachandra Guha tweeted, "This is deeply disappointing. Penguin should have appealed in a higher court." The book’s author said in an emailed statement that she was "deeply grateful" to all who had expressed anger. Doniger is reported to have once said "I have a double disadvantage among the Hindutva (pro-Hindu) types. I'm not a Hindu and I am not a male...it's considered unseemly for a woman to talk about sex."
Penguin India has issued an official statement on the matter, asserting that it stands by its original decision to publish the book, and at the same time admitting that its decision to withdraw circulation was made to protect its employees from ‘threats and harassment’. The company has also made its stance clear on India’s anti-blasphemy law, “We believe, however, that the Indian Penal Code, and in particular section 295A of that code, will make it increasingly difficult for any Indian publisher to uphold international standards of free expression without deliberately placing itself outside the law. This is, we believe, an issue of great significance not just for the protection of creative freedoms in India but also for the defence of fundamental human rights.”
