Anupam Kher reacts to 'Delhi Riots 2020' book row, says 'mafia threats scared publishers'

Anupam Kher took a dig at the ‘intolerant gang’ as Bloomsbury India decided to withdraw Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story book. The actor stated that those who are being the ‘ambassadors of freedom of expression’ had threatened the publishers, leading to the controversial decision. Addressing them with words like ‘mafia’ and ‘cowards’, he stated such a thing should not have happened in India.

READ: Cong's Singhvi Backs Delhi Riots Book Cancellation; Bloomsbury Faces Ire For Shaheen Bagh

Anupam Kher took to Twitter and expressed his views in the form of a video, “I heard a publisher announced a book and then refused to publish it and bring it to the market, after some special people who call themselves ambassadors of freedom of speech, threatened and scared them by tweeting all day. And I can’t even call them fools, the publishers who supported these people decided to withdraw the book."

"This is also a mafia that talks about freedom of expression to say 'this should happen and this should not.' They want freedom of expression, but when another person asks for it, they come together like a mafia, like an intolerant gang, that this 'book should not be published.' Why?" the A Wednesday star asked.

Kher continued, "Your blood is blood and our blood is water? This is wrong. Tomorrow, someone else might want to say something that these 5-7 people, white collared terrorists, also being called urban naxals, will gather again. If everyone in a democracy has a right to express their views, they also have the right to publish their book."

"If you don’t show your spine now, they will break it. Today, you have banned a book, tomorrow they will say don’t sport tilak, wear a cap, grow a beard, even I have grown my beard," the actor continued.

Anupam Kher concluded, "So who are these people responsible for the book to not be published? I don’t even want to take the name of the book. This should not have happened in a country of freedom, they should never talk about freedom of expression at all in the future.”

READ: Bloomsbury India Withdraws 'Delhi Riots 2020' Book Facing Online Ire; BJP MP Slams Move

Earlier in the day, BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy had also expressed his shock at the publishers’ decision to withdraw the book. On the other hand, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi backed the decision. Another celebrity from the film industry to react to the controversy was Anurag Kashyap, who stated that banning was not right as it suppressed freedom of expression.

Delhi Riots 2020 controversy 

Twitteratti including film celebrities and journalists had questioned a launch event of Delhi Riots 2020, after the poster featuring the authors Monica Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra, and of the attendees, BJP leader Kapil Mishra, director Vivek Agnihotri and journalist Nupur Sharma went viral. Apart from the presence of Kapil Mishra, who had landed in a soup for an inflammatory speech before the riots, the netizens wrote that the case was still under investigation. However, some also highlighted that the publishers had published a book on the Shaheen Bagh protests, also related to the events in Delhi before the riots. 

Bloomsbury then released a statement,  “Bloomsbury India had planned to release Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story in September, a book purportedly giving a factual report on the riots in Delhi in February 2020, based on investigations and interviews conducted by the authors,” the statement read. 

It stated, “However, in view of very recent events including a virtual pre-publication launch organised without our knowledge by the authors, with participation by parties of whom the publishers would not have approved, we have decided to withdraw publication of the book. Bloomsbury India strongly supports freedom of speech but also has a deep sense of responsibility towards society.”

READ: Subramanian Swamy Shocked At Delhi Riots Book Cancellation; Slams 'left Mafia, few Angrez'

READ: Delhi Riots: Police Grills Ex-JNU Student Leader Umar Khalid; Seizes His Mobile Phone