Jump to content

List of books banned in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of books or any specific textual material that have been or are banned in India or parts of India.

Nationwide

[edit]

This section lists books that are banned or once faced a nationwide ban in India (including in British India).

Date Work Author Notes
1909 Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule Mahatma Gandhi The Gujarati translation of Hind Swaraj was banned by the British authorities on its publication in India.[1]
1924 Rangila Rasul Pandit M. A. Chamupati or Krishan Prashaad Prataab[2] In May 1924, this Urdu booklet was published in Lahore. The booklet purportedly described Prophet Muhammad's relationship with women.[2]
1934 Hindu Heaven Max Wylie It cannot be brought into India.[3] Max Wylie, the creator The Flying Nun TV show, researched this book while teaching in Lahore.[4] The novel questioned the work of American missionaries in India.[5][6] It also dealt with the harsh effects of the climate on the missionaries.[7]
1933 Angarey Various This collection of stories by Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, Rashid Jahan and Mahmud-uz-Zafar was published in 1932. It drew protests from Muslim religious leaders.[8] In 1933, it was banned by the British colonial government.[6]
1936 The Face of Mother India Katherine Mayo It cannot be imported into India.[3] In 1927, Gandhi wrote a review of the book titled "Drain Inspector Report" which was published in the Young India.[9]
1936 Old Soldier Sahib Frank Richards The book cannot be imported into India.[3] The book is a memoir of the author's time in British India as a veteran soldier.[6]
1937 The Land of the Lingam Arthur Miles It cannot be imported into India.[3] The book is about Hinduism, caste and phallicism.[10]
1940 Mysterious India Moki Singh The book cannot be imported into India.[3] The book purportedly contained stereotypes.[11]
1945 The Scented Garden: Anthropology of the Sex Life in the Levant Bernhard Stern This book cannot be imported into India.[12] This is a book about sexual practices and marriage rites of the people of Middle East (Levant).[13] The book was allegedly sexually explicit.[11]
1950 Pakistan-Pasmanzarwa Peshmanzar Hameed Anwar This book, originally in Urdu, cannot be imported into India.[12]
1950 Cease-Fire Agha Babar This book, originally in Urdu, cannot be imported into India.[12]
1950 Khaak aur Khoon Nusseim Hajazi This book, originally in Urdu, cannot be imported into India.[12]
1952 Chadramohini This book, originally in Urdu, cannot be imported into India.[12]
1952 Marka-e-Somnath Maulana Muhammad Sadiq Hussain Sahab Sadiq Siddiqui Sardanvi This book, originally in Urdu, is a Pakistani treatise on Somnath and it cannot be imported into India.[12]
1954 Bhupat Singh Kaluwank Ravatwank This book, originally in Gujarati, cannot be imported into India.[12]
1954 What has Religion done for Mankind This book cannot be imported into India.[12] This is a book published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.[14] This book tries to refute Eastern religions.[15]
1955 Rama Retold Aubrey Menen This book cannot be imported into India.[12] It was a play[16] which was a spoof of the Ramayana.[17] It was one of the first books to be banned in independent India.[16] The American edition was simply called The Ramayana.[17]
1955 Dark Urge Robert W. Taylor This book cannot be imported into India.[12]
1958 Captive Kashmir: Story of a Betrayed and Enslaved People Aziz Beg This book is highly critical of India's stand on Kashmir. This book cannot be imported into India.[18]
1959 The Heart of India Alexander Campbell This book cannot be imported into India.[18] Alexander Campbell was Time magazine's New Delhi correspondent. The book is a fictionalized and humorous account of Indian bureaucracy and economic policies.[19]
1960 The Lotus and the Robot Arthur Koestler This book contains the author's experiences in India and Japan. The book was highly critical of the cultures of both nations.[20] The book was banned for its negative portrayal of Gandhi.[21]
1962 Nine Hours to Rama Stanley Wolpert This book cannot be imported into India.[18] The book and the movie based on it, both were banned in India.[22] The book points to the lapse in security.[11][19][23]
1963 Nepal Toni Hagen This book cannot be imported into India.[18]
1963 Ayesha Kurt Frischler This book is alleged to hurt Muslim sentiments. This book cannot be imported into India.[18] The original German title was Aischa: Mohammed's Lieblingfrau (Aischa: Mohammed's Favorite Wife).[24]
1963 Unarmed Victory Bertrand Russell The book dealt with the Sino-Indian War and showed involved political leaders in poor light.[25]
1964 An Area of Darkness V. S. Naipaul Banned for its negative portrayal of India and its people.[19]
1968 The Jewel in the Lotus Allen Edwardes This book cannot be imported into India.[18] Allen Edwardes was the pen-name of a scholar who wrote on Middle East and Oriental erotica.
1969 The Evolution of the British Empire and Commonwealth from the American Revolution Alfred LeRoy Burt This book cannot be imported into India.[26]
1969 A Struggle between two lines over the question of How to Deal with U.S. Imperialism Hsiu-chu Fan This book cannot be imported into India.[26]
1970 Man from Moscow Greville Wynne This book cannot be imported into India.[26] Greville Wynne was a courier for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). The book is about his involvement with Oleg Penkovsky.[27] The book was banned for purportedly misrepresenting Indian policies.[20]
1971 [28] Nehru: A Political Biography Michael Edwardes This book cannot be imported into India.[26] The book purportedly contained grievous factual errors.[20]
1975 Early Islam Desmond Stewart This book cannot be imported into India.[26] The book purportedly contained grievous factual errors.[20]
1976 India Independent Charles Bettelheim This book cannot be imported into India.[26] It was banned for criticising the policies of the Indian government.[19]
1978 China's Foreign Relations Since 1949 Alan Lawrence This book cannot be imported into India.[26]
1979 Who killed Gandhi Lourenço de Salvador This book cannot be imported into India.[26] The book was considered inflammatory and ill-researched.[19][20]
1983 The Price of Power: Kissinger and Nixon in the White House Seymour Hersh Briefly banned for alleging Morarji Desai to be a CIA informer.[19] The book claimed that Morarji Desai was paid US$20,000 per year, starting from the time of Lyndon B. Johnson. Desai obtained an injunction from the Bombay High Court for a temporary ban and sued for damages worth US$5 million in US.[29]
1984 Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim Sunanda K. Datta-Ray The book dealt with India's annexation of Sikkim. The Delhi High Court had stopped its publication after a political officer station in Gangtok at the time filed a defamation suit. The book was later allowed for release.[30][31]
1988 The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie This book cannot be imported into India.[32] Import ban was imposed after Muslim groups protested that it was blasphemous and hurt their religious sentiments.[19] India was the first country to ban this book.[20]
1989 Soft Target: How the Indian Intelligence Service Penetrated Canada Zuhair Kashmeri
and
Brian McAndrew
The book claims that the Indian intelligence agencies penetrated the Canadian Sikh community, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to discredit the demand for a separate Sikh state.[33]
1991 Understanding Islam through Hadis Ram Swarup The book, originally published in 1982, was banned for its critique of political Islam.[23]
2005 The True Furqan Al Saffee, Al Mahdee Banned for purportedly mocking Islam.[19] The book has been allegedly written by a Christian evangelical group to proselytise Muslims.[20] The import of this book is strictly prohibited.[34]
2014 Santsurya Tukaram
and
Loksakha Dnyaneshwar
Anand Yadav A Pune court ordered the copies of the books to be destroyed in June 2014. The complaint Jaisingh More had claimed that the book was derogatory to Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar. The publishers defended the book and the author's daughter stated that they will appeal in a higher court.[35]

Statewide

[edit]

This section lists books that were banned by a state government. The Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 allows the state governments to declare any publication as forfeit.[36]

Date Work Author State(s) Notes
1944 Satyarth Prakash Dayananda Saraswati Sindh Satyartha Prakash was banned in some princely states and in Sindh in 1944 and is still banned in Sindh.[37] In 2008 two Indian Muslims, Usman Ghani and Mohammad Khalil Khan of Sadar Bazar, Delhi, following the fatwa of Mufti Mukarram Ahmed, the Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid in Delhi, urged the Delhi High Court to ban Satyarth Prakash.[38] However, the court dismissed the petition and commented "A suit by Hindus against the Quran or by Muslims against Gita or Satyarth Prakash claiming relief... are in fact, meant to play mischief in the society."[39]
1969 Ramayana: A True Reading Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Uttar Pradesh The Hindi version of the book, Sachchi Ramayana, was banned by the state government and all copies were seized in December 1969. The publisher challenged the decision in the Allahabad High Court. The court nullified the ban and asked the government to return all copies to the publisher. The state government challenged the High Court in the Supreme Court. On 16 September 1976, Supreme Court declared the ban to be illegal. However, the government ignored the court decisions and managed to stop sales of the book, until 1995. In 1995, after the political party Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to power, the book was widely published for the Periyar mela held in September 1995.[40]
2001 Bhavsagar Granth Followers of Baba Bhaniara Punjab Banned by Parkash Singh Badal-led Punjab government in 2001 for allegedly insulting the Sikh faith. The state arrested the people who were found in possession of the book, and confiscated its copies.[41] In November 2008, the Supreme Court of India overturned the ban, stating that the Punjab government was allowed to issue a fresh ban, if needed.[42] The Punjab Government then banned the book on 15 December 2008.[43]
2003 Dwikhandito Taslima Nasrin West Bengal The CPI(M) government banned the book on 28 November 2003 fearing that book could incite communal discord.[44] In November 2003, the Calcutta High Court put out an injunction against publication after a poet, Syed Hasmat Jalal, filed a 110 million INR defamation suit.[45] On 22 September 2005, the court lifted the ban.[46]
2004 Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India James Laine Maharashtra In January 2004, a mob alleging disparaging remarks made about Shivaji attacked Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute where Laine had researched the book. Several rare manuscripts were destroyed in the process.[47] On 14 January, the state government run by the Congress Party under Sushil Kumar Shinde banned the book.[48] In 2007, the Bombay High Court revoked the ban.[49] The state government challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. Supreme Court upheld the previous decision and lifted the ban in 2010.[50]
2006 The Epic of Shivaji: A Translation and Study of Kavindra Paramananda's Sivabharata James Laine Maharashtra The book was banned for allegedly containing derogatory references on grounds that it could cause a law and order problem.[51]
2006 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown Nagaland The book was banned by the government for allegedly containing blasphemous remarks about Jesus.[52]
2007 Islam: A Concept of Political World Invasion R. V. Bhasin Maharashtra The book was released in 2003. It was banned by the Congress government in 2007 ground that it contained derogatory remarks about Islam and Prophet Mohammad.[53] In 2010, Bombay High Court upheld the ban.[54] The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court but it rejected the appeal.[53]
2009 Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence Jaswant Singh Gujarat Banned in Gujarat but overturned.[19] The book was on banned on 19 August 2009,[55] for containing defamatory references to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.[56] Jaswant Singh was also expelled from his political party, BJP, for writing this book.[57] On 4 September, the Gujarat High Court revoked the ban.[55][58]
2011 Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India Joseph Lelyveld Gujarat The biographical book was claimed to have that Mahatma Gandhi was a bisexual, but its author Joseph Lelyveld denied this claim.[59][60] It is banned in the state of Gujarat (where Gandhi was born) on 31 March 2011.[61] The Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily hinted that the Centre may also ban the book. Gandhi's grandsons, Tushar Gandhi,[62] Rajmohan Gandhi[63] and Gopalkrishna Gandhi,[64] expressed opposition to the ban proposal. On 4 April, Moily ruled out the ban.[65]
2013 Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru (Resurgence of Pandiyan History) K. Senthil Mallar Tamil Nadu The Tamil Nadu government banned this Tamil book on 30 May 2013 on grounds that it may cause violence and promote discord among communities. The book allegedly claims the Dalit community called Pallar, were among the rulers of the Pandya kingdom. The author has appealed in the Madras High Court against the ban.[66][67]
2017 The Adivasi Will Not Dance Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar Jharkhand On 11 August 2017, the government of Jharkhand banned The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories and summarily suspended the author from his job, on the grounds that the book portrayed Adivasi women and Santhal culture in a bad light.[68] The key complainants appear to have been the ruling party in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the opposition party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and an academic at Jamia Millia Islamia.[69] The government's actions were widely criticised.[70][71][72][73] The ban on The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories was removed in December 2017[74][75] and Shekhar's suspension was removed and he was reinstated into his job in 2018.[76][77]

Other challenged books

[edit]

This section lists books that have been legally challenged to impose a ban or to exclude from a syllabus. Some books listed here are unavailable or were unavailable for some time in India or parts of it, due to pending court decisions or voluntary withdrawal by the publishers.

Date Work Author Notes
1892 Risala-i-Jihad Pandit Lekh Ram Pandit Lekh Ram's Risala-i-Jihad was challenged and a ban was attempted.[78] Risala-i-Jihad ya'ri Din-i-Muhammad ki Bunyad (A Treatise on waging holy war, or the foundation of the Muhammadan Religion) caused a considerable outcry, when it was published in 1892. Until his murder by a Mirza qadyani follower five years later, Lekh Ram continued to stir up animosity by his vituperative writings."[79]
1985 Quran Religious text On 20 July 1984, H.K. Chakraborty wrote to the Secretary, Department of Home Government of West Bengal, demanding the ban of the Quran. Chakraborty thereafter with Chandmal Chopra wrote to the Department of Home Government of West Bengal on 16 March 1985.[80] Chopra then filed a writ Petition at the High Court. Chandmal Chopra tried to obtain an order banning the Quran, by filing a Writ Petition at the Calcutta High Court on 29 March 1985. The petition claimed that Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 95 of the Criminal Procedure Code were often used by Muslims to ban or proscribe publications critical of Islam, and stated that "so far it had been the privilege of the Peoples of the Book to ban and burn the sacred literature of the Pagans."[80] Chandmal Chopra thought that the Koran "on grounds of religion promotes disharmony, feeling of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different religious communities and incite people to commit violence and disturb public tranquility..." The Telegraph of 9 May 1985 reported that the Union Government would make itself a party in the case, and the Union law minister Ashoke Sen and the attorney-general of the Government of India were going to take action against the case.[81] Muslim lawyers after a meeting condemned the case. According to The Telegraph of 10 May, the Chief Minister of West Bengal called the petition "a despicable act". Other politicians in the Lok Sabha at New Delhi, and the Minister of State for Law condemned the Petition.[82] Pakistan's minister of state for religious and minority affairs claimed that the petition was the "worst example of religious intolerance", and he urged the Indian government to "follow the example of Pakistan" in ensuring freedom of religion.[83] The petition was however dismissed in May 1985. The Attorney-General of the Government of India and the Advocate-General of West Bengal appeared in the case and argued against Chopra's petition. On 18 June 1985 Chandmal Chopra filed a review petition, which was dismissed on 21 June.[80][84][85]
1993 Hindu View of Christianity and Islam Ram Swarup Ram Swarup's Hindu View of Christianity and Islam was challenged by Syed Shahabuddin (who previously successfully managed to get the Satanic Verses banned). Indian authorities were to impose a ban on the book, Syed Shahabuddin asked that the government have the book examined "from the point of view of banning it under the law of the land."[86][87][88]
1995 The Moor's Last Sigh Salman Rushdie The book contained a character resembling Balasaheb Thackeray, the leader of the right-wing party Shiv Sena. The book faced protests from the party. The book also contained a dog named, Jawaharlal, named after India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao unofficially banned the book. In September 1995, the local publishers Rupa & Co. were asked to stop selling the book while it was being reviewed. Rupa & Co. decided to approach the Supreme Court of India in response.[89] The court the declared the ban unconstitutional in February 1996.[90] However, book sellers were reluctant to stock the book in Maharashtra, the home of Shiv Sena, due to the fear of vandalism.[91]
1997 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy A lawyer named Sabu Thomas from Kerala filed an obscenity case against the author, claiming that Chapter 21 contains obscene scenes.[92]
1998 The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani Hamish McDonald This unofficial biography of Dhirubhai Ambani never went to print because HarperCollins anticipated legal action from the Ambani family.[19][93]
2000 Towards Freedom Sumit Sarkar
and
K. N. Panikkar
The 10-volume history book project was halted by the Indian Council of Historical Research in early 2000, allegedly because it showed Hindu Mahasabha in a badlight. The project was revived in 2004.[94]
2001 Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions Dwijendra Narayan Jha A preview of the book was posted on a website initially which triggered the controversy.[95][96] A spokesperson for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad[95] stated that the book was an attempt to insult Hindus. The book allegedly said that beef was eaten by ancient Indians. The author received anonymous threat calls and had to be provided a police escort.[96][97] A civil court in Andhra Pradesh put a temporary stay order on the book until verdict.[97] Pushpesh Pant[95] supported the book by stating that the evidence exists in historical and mythological texts. The book is also known as The Myth of the Holy Cow.[96]
2002 Five Past Midnight in Bhopal Dominique Lapierre
and
Javier Moro
The book is a dramatized account of the Bhopal disaster. In 2002, Swaraj Puri filed a defamation suit against the authors worth US$10 million. Puri, who was the police commissioner of Bhopal during the disaster is mentioned in the book.[98][99] In 2009, the court put an order to halt publication of the book.[98][99] But, the Madhya Pradesh High Court revoked the order later.[100]
2008 The Lives of Sri Aurobindo Peter Heehs On 5 November 2004, the Odisha High Court put a stay order on the release of the book, after a petition was filed.[101] The petitioner alleged that the book is blasphemous in nature and defamatory regarding Sri Aurobindo's character.[101][102]
2010 The Red Sari (El Sari Rojo) Javier Moro The book was originally published in October 2010[103] in Spanish. The book is a fictional[103] novel allegedly based on Sonia Gandhi. Moro claimed that Congress lawyers and spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had written to his publishers demanding them to withdraw the book from shops.[103][104] Abhishek Singhvi claimed that the book violated a person's privacy for monetary gain.[105] The book was finally released in India in January 2015.[106]
2010 Such A Long Journey Rohinton Mistry On 4 October 2010, this 1990 Booker nominated book was removed from the Bachelor of Arts (English) syllabus of the Mumbai University, after Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, the student-wing of the Shiv Sena protested. The book allegedly contained anti-Shiv Sena passages and remarks derogatory to Maharastrians.[107][108] The protests were led by Aditya Thackeray.[107] Mistry later expressed his dismay in an open letter to the university.[107]
2013 Dhundi Yogesh Master The author of the Kannada novel was arrested on 29 August 2013, after several Hindu organisations accused the book of containing objectionable material against the god Ganesha. The author was charged under Section 295 A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code.[109] The complaint was filed by Sri Ram Sene leader Pramod Muthalik, and others.[110]
2014 Sahara: The Untold Story Tamal Bandyopadhyay Sahara India Pariwar moved Calcutta High Court in December 2013 seeking a stay and filed a Rs. 2 billion defamation suit against the author. In January 2014, a stay order was issued by the court. In April, both the parties reached an out of court settlement following which the book was published with a disclaimer given by Sahara.[111][112]
2014 The Descent of Air India Jitendra Bhargava The publisher, Bloomsbury India, agreed to withdraw all copies of the book, after former Aviation Minister Praful Patel filed a defamation suit in a Mumbai court. The publisher also issued a public apology.[113][114]
2015 Madhurobhagan
(One Part Woman)
Perumal Murugan The writer asked publishers to withdraw all his books from the market and announced that he was giving up writing on 13 January 2015.[115] The BJP, RSS and other Hindu groups had protested his book, and demanded its ban and his arrest. They had alleged that he had portrayed the Kailasanathar temple in Tiruchengode and its women devotees in bad light. The English translation of the book is known as One Part Woman.[116]
2015 Korkai Joe D'Cruz A complaint was filed against the author in June 2015 in a Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu court alleging the novel had portrayed fishermen, Christianity, priests and nuns in bad light.[117]
2021 Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times Salman Khurshid A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on the sale of the book. The book allegedly compares Hindutva to radical groups like the Islamic State and the Boko Haram. The Court rejected petition.[118]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, A History of Indian Literature in English. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2003. ISBN 9781850656814 (p.139)
  2. ^ a b John W. Cell; John Whitson Cell (22 August 2002). Hailey: A Study in British Imperialism, 1872–1969. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-521-52117-8. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Prohibition on Importations into India (Part 1)". Chennai Customs (Government of India). Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Class of 1927 Letter". Half-Century Annalist Letters. Hamilton College. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  5. ^ Sujit Mukherjee (1 January 1993). Forster and Further: The Tradition of Anglo-Indian Fiction. Orient Blackswan. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-86311-289-8. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  6. ^ a b c The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction. John Wiley & Sons. 8 December 2010. p. 1003. ISBN 978-1-4051-9244-6. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  7. ^ Raj Kumar Gupta (1 January 1986). The Great Encounter: A Study of Indo-American Literature and Cultural Relations. Abhinav Publications. p. 179. ISBN 978-81-7017-211-6. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  8. ^ Department of English, University of Delhi (1 September 2005). The Individual and Society. Pearson Education India. p. 37. ISBN 978-81-317-0417-2. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  9. ^ Sunil Sharma (2021). "Introduction". Journalist Gandhi (Selected Writings of Gandhi). Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  10. ^ "The land of the lingam". Library Catalog. Yale University. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Nilanjana S. Roy (23 May 2006). "Banned in India: The 1930s–1960s". Business Standard. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Prohibition on Importations into India (Part 2)". Chennai Customs (Government of India). Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  13. ^ "The scented garden; anthropology of the sex life in the Levant". Library Catalog. Stony Brook University. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  14. ^ "What has religion done for mankind". Library Catalog. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  15. ^ Tony Wills (1 February 2007). A People for His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation. Lulu.com. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  16. ^ a b Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (January 2003). A History of Indian Literature in English. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-85065-681-4. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  17. ^ a b P. Lal (1964). Great Sanskrit Plays. New Directions Publishing. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-8112-0079-0. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Prohibition on Importations into India (Part 3), Chennai Customs (Government of India), archived from the original on 21 September 2012, retrieved 7 August 2013
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Suroor, Hasan (3 March 2012). "You can't read this book". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Nilanjana S. Roy (30 May 2006). "Banned books in India: 1970s–2006". Business Standard. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  21. ^ Shoji Yamada (29 November 2011). Shots in the Dark: Japan, Zen, and the West. University of Chicago Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-226-94765-5. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  22. ^ Sujit Mukherjee (1 January 1993). Forster and Further: The Tradition of Anglo-Indian Fiction. Orient Blackswan. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-86311-289-8. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  23. ^ a b "Publish and be banned". The Telegraph (India). 18 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  24. ^ Ayesha. Open Library. OL 22868023M.
  25. ^ Kapoor, R.S. (2017). There Is No Such Thing As Hate Speech: A Case For Absolute Freedom Of Expression. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 89. ISBN 978-93-86432-71-1. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h Prohibition on Importations into India (Part 4), Chennai Customs (Government of India), archived from the original on 21 September 2012, retrieved 7 August 2013
  27. ^ Nigel West (26 January 2007). Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence. Scarecrow Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-8108-6463-4. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  28. ^ Pike, F. (2011). Empires at War: A Short History of Modern Asia Since World War II. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 921. ISBN 978-0-85773-029-9. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  29. ^ "Desai Obtains Ban On Hersh Book in India". The New York Times. 14 July 1983. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  30. ^ "Booked but not read: When the law is used for a private agenda". The Telegraph (India). 15 February 2014. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  31. ^ "Lifting the 'sacred veil' on Sikkim". Business Standard. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  32. ^ "Soft Target: How the Indian Intelligence Service Penetrated Canada, Zuhair Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew". Huffington Post (Canada). 28 November 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  33. ^ Prakash, Anupam (7 September 2005). "Notification No. 78 /2005-Customs (N.T.)". Central Board of Excise and Customs. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  34. ^ "'Destroy' defamatory books on saints: Court". The Indian Express. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  35. ^ "Criminal Procedure Code, 1973" (PDF). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  36. ^ The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India, Girja Kumar
  37. ^ "Arya Samaj plans march to defend book by founder". The Hindu. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008.
  38. ^ "Plea seeking ban on Dayanand book is 'mischief'".
  39. ^ Girja Kumar (1 January 1997). The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India. Har-Anand Publications. pp. 329–331. ISBN 978-81-241-0525-2.
  40. ^ Meeta; Rajivlochan (2007). "Caste and Religion in Punjab: Case of the Bhaniarawala Phenomenon". Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (21): 1909–1913. JSTOR 4419630.
  41. ^ "Piara Singh Bhaniara vs State of Punjab And Another on 11 November, 2008". India Kanoon. 11 November 2008.
  42. ^ "Panel to study controversial book of Baba Bhaniara". The Indian Express. 19 November 2016.
  43. ^ "Bengal bans Taslima's book". The Hindu. 29 November 2003. Archived from the original on 24 December 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  44. ^ "Court stay fills money-box – Sale shoots up of Nasreen novels, printers line up legal recourse". The Telegraph (India). 21 November 2003. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  45. ^ "Indian court lifts ban on Nasrin book". Gulf Daily News. 23 September 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  46. ^ "Mob ransacks Bhandarkar Institute, destroys rare manuscripts". The Hindu. 6 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  47. ^ "Maharashtra bans book on Shivaji". The Hindu. 15 January 2004. Archived from the original on 15 February 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  48. ^ "HC quashes ban on Laine's book on Shivaji". Outlook India. 26 April 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  49. ^ "Supreme Court upholds lifting of ban on Shivaji book". DNA India. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  50. ^ "Shivaji book ban". The Telegraph (India). 10 January 2006. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  51. ^ "Nagaland awakes, bans bestseller". The Telegraph (India). 23 May 2006. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  52. ^ a b J. Venkatesan (16 April 2010). "Supreme Court declines to interfere with book ban order". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  53. ^ "HC upholds ban on book, says criticism should be healthy". The Indian Express. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  54. ^ a b Dasgupta, Manas (4 September 2011). "Gujarat ban on Jaswant book struck down". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  55. ^ Bhatnagar, Rakesh (20 August 2009). "Legal eagles slam ban". DNA India. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  56. ^ "Modi govt bans book, says it's a bid to tarnish Sardar image". The Indian Express. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  57. ^ Shourie, A. (2010). We must have no price: National security, reforms, political reconstruction. New Delhi: Express Group.
  58. ^ "India state bans book hinting Gandhi had gay lover". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  59. ^ "Book on Gandhi Stirs Passion in India". The New York Times. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  60. ^ "Gujarat House resolution to ban Lelyveld's book". The Hindu. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  61. ^ Amruta Byatnal (31 March 2011). "Ban will be a greater insult: Tushar". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  62. ^ "Don't ban book: Bapu grandson". Hindustan Times. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  63. ^ "Letters: On Great Soul". The Hindu. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  64. ^ "Moily Rules Out Ban on Lelyveld's Gandhi Book". Outlook India. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  65. ^ "Author of banned book doesn't want dalit judge to hear plea". The Times of India. 19 July 2013. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  66. ^ "Different bench to hear case on govt ban on Tamil book". Business Line. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  67. ^ Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017). [verification needed]
  68. ^ Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017). [verification needed]
  69. ^ Sanjay Srivastava, 'What the ban on The Adivasi Will Not Dance tells us about India’s political life', Hindustan Times (14 August 2017). [verification needed]
  70. ^ Ruchir Joshi, 'The reader will not dance', The Hindu (13 August 2017). [verification needed]
  71. ^ 'Dubbed 'porn', book on tribals banned in Jharkhand', The Times of India (13 August 2017). [verification needed]
  72. ^ 'Writers, Activists Condemn Banning of ‘The Adivasi Will Not Dance’ in Jharkhand', The Wire (29 August 2017). [verification needed]
  73. ^ "Four months after ban, Jharkhand finds nothing objectionable in Hansda Shekhar's book on Adivasis". Scroll. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2018. [verification needed]
  74. ^ Prashant Pandey (14 December 2017). "Jharkhand: Govt finds nothing objectionable in Santhal writer's book, ban could be lifted". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 September 2018. [verification needed]
  75. ^ ICF Team (17 August 2018). "Suspension on Writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar Revoked". Indian Cultural Forum. Retrieved 2 September 2018. [verification needed]
  76. ^ Paromita Chakrabarti (2 September 2018). "Playing with Fire: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on his first children's book". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 September 2018. [verification needed]
  77. ^ Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-century Punjab by Kenneth W. Jones
  78. ^ (Punjab and the Raj, 1849–1947", p. 72–73) Ian Talbot.
  79. ^ a b c Chandmal, Chopra; Ram, Goel, Sita; India), India. High Court (Calcutta (1 January 2012). The Calcutta Quran petition. Voice of India. ISBN 978-8185990583. OCLC 935213876.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  80. ^ The Telegraph 9 May 1985. The Telegraph 10 May 1985.
  81. ^ The Statesman 11 May 1985.
  82. ^ The Telegraph, 14 May 1985
  83. ^ "Quran Day: A legacy of blood and impunity | Progress Bangladesh". progressbangladesh.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  84. ^ Shaheb, Talukder (11 May 2015). "Quran Day: A legacy of blood and impunity". Talukder Shaheb's Blog. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  85. ^ Arun Shourie: How should we respond? The Observer of Business and Politics, New Delhi, on 26 November 1993
  86. ^ K.S. Lal Statement by Indian intellectuals on Syed Shahabuddin's attempt to make the authorities impose a ban on the book Hindu View of Christianity and Islam by Ram Swarup (1993)
  87. ^ Goel, S. R., Arun Shourie (1998). Freedom of expression: Secular theocracy versus liberal democracy.
  88. ^ "Another Rushdie Novel, Another Bitter Epilogue". The New York Times. 2 December 1995. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  89. ^ Madelena Gonzalez (2005). Fiction After the Fatwa: Salman Rushdie and the Charm of Catastrophe. Rodopi. p. 12. ISBN 90-420-1962-X. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  90. ^ Ralph J. Crane; Radhika Mohanram (2000). Shifting Continents/colliding Cultures: Diaspora Writing of the Indian Subcontinent. Rodopi. pp. 106, 115. ISBN 90-420-1271-4.
  91. ^ "A Novelist Beginning With a Bang". The New York Times. 29 June 1997. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  92. ^ "The Prince made them wince". Mid-Day. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  93. ^ "'Towards Freedom' project revived". The Hindu. 21 September 2004. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  94. ^ a b c Jyotsna Singh (9 August 2001). "Beef book sparks Hindu protest". BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  95. ^ a b c Emily Eakin (17 August 2002). "Holy Cow a Myth? An Indian Finds The Kick Is Real". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  96. ^ a b "Book on beef-eating runs into trouble". The Hindu. 8 August 2001. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  97. ^ a b "Court stops sale of book on Bhopal gas tragedy". 9 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  98. ^ a b "Court restrains publishing of book". The Hindu. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  99. ^ "MP HC stays ban on book 'Five Past Midnight in Bhopal'". IndLaw News. 10 October 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  100. ^ a b "HC brakes on biography". The Telegraph (India). 5 November 2008. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  101. ^ "Orissa HC sets condition for release of Sri Aurobindo's biography". IndLaw News. 11 April 2008. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  102. ^ a b c Charmy Harikrishnan (2 June 2010). "Latest target for Congress censors: book on Sonia's life". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  103. ^ "Spanish writer threatens to sue Singhvi on Sonia book". The Indian Express. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  104. ^ "Congress hits back at Spanish author". Deccan Herald. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  105. ^ "Controversial Sonia Gandhi book 'Red Sari' now out in India". The Economic Times. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  106. ^ a b c Vinaya Deshpande (20 October 2010). "Rohinton Mistry protests withdrawal of book". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  107. ^ "Rohinton Mistry's novel removed from syllabus". Sify.com. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  108. ^ "Author of Kannada novel Dhundi arrested". The Hindu. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  109. ^ "'Dhundi' author accused of sharing PDFs online". The Hindu. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  110. ^ "'Sahara withdraws case against Mint journalist's book'". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  111. ^ "Sahara gets stay on book release, files Rs 200-cr defamation suit against author". Business Standard. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  112. ^ "Bloomsbury withdraws ex-AI official's book to save Praful 'embarrassment'". The Indian Express. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  113. ^ "Three-way tussle over 'The Descent of Air India'". Business Line. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  114. ^ "Perumal Murugan gives up writing". The Hindu. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  115. ^ "BJP, RSS seek ban on Tamil novel, arrest of author". The Hindu. 27 December 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  116. ^ "Summons to writer Joe D' Cruz". The Hindu. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  117. ^ "Delhi High Court junks plea to ban Salman Khurshid's book". The Telegraph (India). 26 November 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2022.