Book becomes victim of a controversial lawsuit.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Penguin India, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, has agreed to immediately pull all copies of the book “The Hindus: An Alternative History” by Wendy Doniger from shelves throughout the subcontinent after receiving several complaints that the book was not only historically inaccurate, but offensive as well.
The book, written by Wendy Doniger, will be completely off of shelves within six months, and remaining copies of it will be destroyed by the publisher. The book was heavily criticized for its fixation on the sexual aspects of the religion, and got certain facets of Hinduism completely wrong. A lawsuit against the publisher was filed by the Shiksha Bachao Andolan Committee, a Hinduism activist group, and the pulling of “The Hindus” book is a result of that case’s out-of-court settlement.
Doniger is a professor of religious history at the University of Chicago, and is considered one of the most prolific and renowned indologists in the US. The 74 year-old scholar has published over 10 academic works and has translated and edited even more, and she received immense critical acclaim when “The Hindus” was initially published in 2009.
The book received positive notices from The New York Times and The Hindu, among other publications, and was named the #1 non-fiction bestseller in India for all of 2009 by The Hindustan Times. But several prominent organizations, most notably the Hindu American Foundation, lobbied against the book for its perceived falsities.
In a statement released after Penguin India decided to settle the legal case, Doniger said “They [the publisher] were finally defeated by the true villain of this piece—the Indian law that makes it a criminal rather than civil offense to publish a book that offends any Hindu, a law that jeopardizes the physical safety of any publisher, no matter how ludicrous the accusation brought against a book.”
The decision to pull the hard copy book off of shelves was followed by an outcry on social media, with many criticizing the Indian government and people for not welcoming an outsider’s voice to examine their own religion and culture. Indian luminaries and writers also decried Penguin India’s decision, with poet and novelist Jeet Thayil calling it “unfortunate” and Namwar Singh saying it was a “attack on writers’ freedom.”
Electronic e-book versions of “The Hindus” are now being pirated and widely circulated online in an effort to keep the book alive, since all legitimate sources to purchase the book will now be shut down. Indians who are still interested in purchasing the book, however, can still purchase it from an overseas distributor – it will just cost them a lot more.
The full details of Penguin India’s settlement was shared via social media earlier today, when the announcement of the book’s recall was made, and can be read below:
Saket District Court Case Against Wendy Doniger – Setlement
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com