Freedom of expression in India

Unfortunately, Indian courts, even higher judiciary, cannot be relied on to weigh in on side of freedom of expression.

Another book has been bullied into suppression in India, this time, Wendy Doniger’s The Hindus: An alternative history.

Though it is a collection of 25 essays, Doniger’s is not a casual work. It comes from decades of immersion in the subject. She is a scholar of high calibre focused on Hinduism. Even her students — Arshia Sattar (Kathasaritsagar and Ramayan) and to an extent Gurcharan Das (Mahabharat) — are known for their ability with Sanskrit texts.

Doniger’s introduction to the Penguin Black Classics translation of Manusmriti is itself a classic and worth reading for all Indians.

The disappearing of her current book, which was around for four years or so, follows the proscription of another fine work by the scholar James Laine on the Maratha hero Shivaji.

I had read the Laine work and so I was puzzled when it was attacked since I had not noticed anything inflammatory in it. When I read the details of the report, I was not surprised to see that it was one line, in which Laine reports a traditional Marathi joke, which was the problem.

When this was noticed, it sent members of the community berserk. They attacked the place which had hosted Laine for his scholarly work, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. This was stupid because it is a place that all Indians should be proud of, and particularly Marathis. The Institute produces the History of Dharmashastra, the magnificent work for which PV Kane won the Bharat Ratna. Oxford University Press withdrew the book, denying hundreds (I will not say thousands given the reading choices of Indians) of people the access to a superb work.

To return to Doniger, the publisher Penguin put out a statement in its defence after it was attacked for surrendering to bullies. Penguin said it “has the same obligation as any other organisation to respect the laws of the land in which it operates, however intolerant and restrictive those laws may be. We also have a moral responsibility to protect our employees against threats and harassment where we can.”

It is difficult to see why they are to be blamed in an environment where the propensity of groups to use violence in place of debate is widespread (the Marathis being particularly active, but by no means being the only ones). Penguin added that “We believe, however, that the Indian Penal Code, and in particular section 295A of that code, will make it increasingly difficult for any Indian publisher to uphold international standards of free expression without deliberately placing itself outside the law.”

The law referred to says: “Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”

This law is, of course, needed in a country where Jats and Muslims will go at each other’s throats and begin to kill over a rumour. In more civilised nations, which are not prone to rioting, it isn’t needed and we must accept that Indians require more policing. We must not blame the law here. The problem is expecting that a benevolent and broadminded judiciary will thread the needle.

Unfortunately, Indian courts, even the higher judiciary, cannot be relied on to weigh in on the side of freedom of expression. I was reading a recent reprint of Smash and Grab — Annexation of Sikkim by Sunanda K Datta-Ray. The book was written 30 years ago but never put out because of a lawsuit against it. Datta-Ray writes: “In my case, the Delhi High Court issued an order on the first hearing, forbidding sale of the book until the case had been settled.”

The same was the case with Khushwant Singh’s autobiography, which Maneka Gandhi managed to block through courts for six years.

This sad trend will continue and my own solution and advice is to always buy a book when it’s out.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2014.

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