Published 09:58 IST, August 23rd 2020
Subramanian Swamy shocked at Delhi Riots Book cancellation; slams 'left mafia, few angrez'
Calling it a 'blatant violation of freedom of speech', the Rajya Sabha MP lashed out at Bloomsbury for disowning the book at the release function
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Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday highlighted how the 'underworld' of India's book publishing industry which he said was run by the 'Left Mafia' was exposed after Bloomsbury India withdrew a book over the Northeast Delhi Riots. On Saturday, a major controversy stirred around a book titled - Delhi Riots 2020, which was withdrawn by publisher Bloomsbury India, after facing flak on social media. Calling it a 'blatant violation of freedom of speech', the Rajya Sabha MP lashed out at Bloomsbury for disowning the book at the release function just because a 'few Angrez in the UK' did not like it.
I am shocked to learn of a blatant violation of freedom of speech, a fundamental right of the noted lawyer Monica Arora whose new book published and vetted by the Publisher Bloomsbury was disowned at the Book release function by them because a few Angrez in UK did not like it!!!
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 23, 2020
Book on Delhi riots withdrawn
BJP MP Bhupendra Yadav - who presided the book's launch took to Twitter to lash out at liberals claiming this move to withdraw the book has 'unmasked the left as it has unmasked those behind the riots'. The book, authored by Monika Arora, Sonali Chitalikar and Prerna Malhotra was launched at a public event, earlier in the day with Vivek Agnihotri, Nupur Sharma and Kapil Mishra attending the event.
The stir was created when one of the authors - Monika Arora took to Twitter to share a promotional poster of the event with the photos of the guests which announced BJP MP Kapil Mishra as one of the guests at the event. The leader had faced flak for his incendiary speech before the Northeast Delhi riots broke out. Social media users took to Twitter to condemn 'Bloomsbury India' - the publisher for allegedly 'publishing a book of lies'.
Bloomsbury's statement
After succumbing to online flak and 'cancel culture', the publisher issued a vague statement saying, "Bloomsbury India had planned to release Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story in September as a book giving a factual report on the riots in Delhi in February 2020, based on investigations and interviews conducted by the authors. Bloomsbury India strongly supports freedom of speech but also has a deep sense of responsibility towards society".
However, Bloomsbury has already published one book in relation to the Delhi riots.
The authors take us on this glorious journey of the making of #ShaheenBagh & how it became a metaphor for resistance, spawning a hundred Shaheen Baghs across the country to restore the sanctity of the Constitution, the national flag & the national anthem.https://t.co/iu0JDxxJjh pic.twitter.com/zAJ7NyVgw7
— Bloomsbury India (@BloomsburyIndia) August 21, 2020
09:58 IST, August 23rd 2020