Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has banned Josephy Lelyveld’s book on Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday. He moved a resolution in the state Assembly on Wednesday seeking a ban on the book which he said was defaming Mahatma Gandhi and hurting everyone’s sentiments.
The book Great Soul; Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India written by Pulitzer prize winner journalist Joseph Lelyveld has already been banned in Maharashtra.
The book has sparked off controversy as it quoted correspondence between Mahatma and body builder and architect Hermann Kallenbach has implied that Mahatma Gandhi was bisexual.
In the state Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Modi put a resolution seeking ban on the sale, distribution, publication and broadcast of the book in the state. “The writing is perverse in nature. It has hurt the sentiments of those with capacity for sane and logical thinking”, Mr Modi said while speaking in the House.
He described the book as an attempt to “defame Mahatma Gandhi”. On Tuesday, Mr Modi, after the controversy surfaced, had expressed his anguished over such controversial depiction of Mahatma Gandhi.
Supporting the government’s move, Opposition Leader Shaktisinh Gohil said that the book has portrayed Mahatma in poor light. “Mahatma Gandhi is regarded as an apostle of peace and non violence not only in India, but also in the world, and therefore no attempt to denigrate him or his legacy should be tolerated,” he said, justifying the ban on the book.
However authority on Gandhi and acclaimed writer Tridip Suhrud has deplored the ban, demanding that it be reconsidered. “The book does not call Gandhi either racist or suggest bisexuality. It, in fact, argues against such readings. The decision of banning the book should be reconsidered because it is based not on actual reading of the book but one review,” he said.
In 2009, the Modi government in Gujarat had banned BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s book Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence on the ground that it questioned Sardar Patel’s role in the Partition and contained defamatory references regarding Patel while praising Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.