Literature in any form, devoured by the lay people of the world shouldn’t have to face criticism no matter what. Yet, it is only unfateful that most literature that should otherwise be a form of expression faces censorship and shortens the sources of knowledge which should be glorified, doesn’t catch the whiff of brewed coffee as the Indian reader eventually doesn’t get to spend hours pouring over the banned book. Interpretations of art can be multiple and should never be denied to its target audiences.
But the fact remains that some books have managed to cause a stir and remained on dusty shelves, undistributed, since the censors and critics did not approve of the authors’ controversial views or stance.
Here’s a look at the books that received acclaim and flak all at once but were banned in India:
1. THE SATANIC VERSES by SALMAN RUSHDIE
The book that made the word ‘fatwa’ popular in the literary community, Rushdie’s fourth novel is banned in India and a bunch of other countries. A large chunk of the Muslim community feel that it contains insults to the legend of Prophet Muhammad. It was banned for allegedly being insulting to the Prophet.
2. RIDDLES OF HINDUISM by DR. BHIMRAO BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR
Ambedkar, regarded as the architect of the Indian constitution who converted to Buddhism as protest against discriminatory practices of Hinduism, raised challenging and probing questions about the inequities and caste hierarchy of Hinduism in this volume. In the 1980s, Hindu nationalists protested against some sections because they argued Ambedkar’s comments inflamed Hindu sentiments. Ambedkar’s followers from the underprivileged Dalit community led counter-demonstrations. The state decided initially to suspend the publication of Ambedkar’s collected works, but later relented, with a caveat saying that the government did not agree with all of Ambedkar’s views.
3. MADHORUBAGAN (ONE PART WOMAN) by PERUMAL MURUGAN
The novel, based on ancient cultural practice among Tamil Hindus, was criticised by Hindu groups that accused it of hurting communal and religious sentiments and defaming women. Harassment of the author and demands that the book be banned followed, culminating in Murugan announcing the death of the author in him. The Madras High Court recently ruled in favour of Murugan, rejecting the petition to remove all copies of the Tamil novel and its English translation.
4. THE POLYESTER PRINCE: THE RISE OF DHIRUBHAI AMBANI by HAMISH MCDONALD
The publication of this unauthorized, tell-all biography of Reliance Industries founder Dhirubhai Ambani was threatened even before the manuscript was completed, with legal warnings from Ambani’s lawyer in 1997. McDonald was undeterred, and the book was published in Australia the following year. As HarperCollins India got ready to release the Indian edition, Reliance procured a temporary injunction against the book. A few legal threats and notices of pre-publication injunctions later, the publisher decided to not publish the book. More recently, a sanitised version of the book titled Ambani & Sons was published.
5. THE HINDUS: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY by WENDY DONIGER
This book has been banned for portraying Indian Gods in a humorous manner. This 683 page book saw a major backlash in India, facing flak from Shiksha Bachao Aandolan Samiti and uncles and aunties alike. Though well researched, the book’s several analogies involving Indian gods spelled doom from the word go.
6. LAJJA by TASLIMA NASREEN
Another member of the Fatwa clan, this Bangladeshi author’s book based on the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1993 was banned in India. It is said to have been offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam. While several of Nasreen’s books are banned in her home country Bangladesh, the third volume of her autobiography, Dwikhandita, was banned by the West Bengal government in 2003 for hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community. Two years later, the ban was lifted by the Calcutta High Court. Nasreen herself was later forced to move out of Kolkata, and now lives in the US.
7. JINNAH: INDIA PARTITION INDEPENDENCE by JASWANT SINGH
Official accounts of Indian history portray Pakistan’s founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah as the villain whose obstinacy led to India’s Partition at the time of independence in 1947. In 2009, Jaswant Singh, former foreign minister in the government of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (now the leading opposition party) wrote a massive account of Jinnah’s politics with remarkable objectivity. While what he said wasn’t necessarily new, it gained notoriety because it was critical of Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, and showed Jinnah as more reasonable than the way he is often portrayed in India.
8. LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER by D.H. LAWRENCE
This D.H.Lawrence classic was banned in India and Britain. The book was banned because it was thought to be indecent and illicit. Though Britain lifted the ban, the book is till date banned in India. Most people don’t know that it is banned and the rest don’t pay much heed. Though Lady Chatterley might not have had much to teach audiences of the 1960s about love, she did have something to remind the publishers of the era: sex, as ever, sells.
The socio-economic and sexual taboos it had broken were no longer so titillating in the Britain as they are in India.
9. The PRICE OF POWER by SEYMOUR HERSH
Morarji Desai, early Indian Prime Minister and famed urine drinker, was accused of supplying secrets to the CIA in this book. He launched a case against this “madness”, and got the book banned in India. The book was banned for being explicitly detailed about the involvement of Morarji Desai as a CIA informant.
10. THE LOTUS AND THE ROBOT by ARTHUR KOESTLER
This controversial book by Arthur Koestler also cannot be imported to India. This book deals with mysticism and Koestler understanding of the India and Japan. This book has often been criticized as ill-researched. The book criticized the Indian democracy, as according to him India always wants a father figure. The government banned it, and reportedly the book is available in some bookstores in India, although the ban remains in effect.