This post is jointly written by NIVEDITA MENON & ADITYA NIGAM<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bloomsbury India has withdrawn the book\u00a0Delhi Riots 2020<\/em>\u00a0in the face of massive outrage at its publication. While we commend Bloomsbury\u2019s decision to withdraw, we also note that\u00a0its statement explaining this act<\/a>\u00a0ends with the the following sentence: \u2018Bloomsbury India strongly supports freedom of speech but also has a deep sense of responsibility towards society.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n The implication here is clear for those who want to see it. The publication of the book was a matter of \u2018freedom of speech\u2019, while its withdrawal comes from a \u2018deep sense of responsibility towards society\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the outset let us state that we do not question the publication of books with which we do not agree, because intellectual and political differences of opinion, and the freedom to express these are the life blood of a democracy. We have not at any point questioned other publications by Bloomsbury, or by other publishing houses, that express views that support the current regime (which has consistently throttled such freedom of expression, and by whom many of us personally are under serious attack). Nor have we raised objections to the flood of hastily turned out books by many publishers that produce intellectually unsustainable arguments that bolster the politics of the anti-constitutional, Brahminical Hindu Rashtra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let us spell out what is reprehensible about Delhi<\/em> Riots 2020<\/em> and why it should not have been published in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.The book is based on a \u201cfact-finding report\u201d presented to the Home Minister in June 2020. This book does not claim to be opinion, evaluation or analysis of a particular violent event in Delhi. It claims to be facts<\/em> about the violence \u2013 not only presented directly to the Home Minister (who did not receive any other report on the violence, prepared by other citizens\u2019 groups), but within 6 weeks, it gets published as a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The misrepresentations and breathtakingly unsustainable allegations in this \u201cfact-finding report\u201d have been exposed quite thoroughly, in this article.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. The investigations into the violence are still going on in court, the facts are hugely contested and the trials are still in the very initial stages \u2013 that is, at the stage of framing of charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. The lower courts, during the bail hearings of the large numbers of students, intellectuals and activists arrested for \u201cinstigating\u201d the violence, have hauled up the police for presenting a one-sided story of the case. For example, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana observed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perusal of the case diary reveals a disturbing fact. The investigation seems to be targetted only towards one end. Upon enquiry from Inspector Lokesh and Anil, they have failed to point out what investigation has been carried out so far regarding the involvement of the rival faction<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In another example, the Delhi High Court demanded that Delhi Police show the video of the speech of jailed Pinjra Tod member Debangana Kalita, which supposedly incited the mob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to know what she said which instigated the mob,\u201d the Judge said. The police were unable to show any such evidence.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems to be the case that the police are framing large numbers of people who had nothing to do with the violence but were active in the massive and peaceful protests against the CAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the major loss of life and property was borne by Muslims in the violence in Delhi, Delhi<\/em> Riots 2020<\/em> <\/em>claims that Muslims are responsible for the violence. The large proportion of those arrested is also Muslim.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. The earlier report by the authors of Delhi Riots 2020<\/em> that was presented to the Home Minister is the basis for the Delhi Police narrative of the violence, and uses terms like \u201cLeft-Jihadi model of revolution\u201d which is exactly the state\u2019s narrative today of \u201cUrban Naxal-Jihadi\u201d conspiracies, by which large numbers of intellectuals including the 80 year old poet Varavara Rao have been jailed under draconian provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. The report as well as the book therefore embody hate speech and libel, and once the cases are tried and completed, if justice is done and the truth revealed, would Bloomsbury have been ready to stand by the blatantly false and unverifiable assertions of Delhi<\/em> Riots 2020?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. The first author, Monika Arora publicly tweets hate speech, and against this background, there are good reasons to believe that this book is not an exercise in reporting an event (we are assuming it is not an academic book) but in fact, a pre-constructed narrative that feeds into the current regime\u2019s project to suppress dissent to its divisive policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That it was going to be released by the authors in the presence of BJP leader Kapil Mishra who has publicly, many times, exhorted violence against Muslims, should be an indication of what this book represents. Videotaped evidence of Mishra\u2019s hate speech was being ignored by Delhi Police. When Justice Muralidharan of Delhi High Court insisted on its being played in court the next day, he was transferred that very night (see story here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the extent to which complicity goes, in covering up the real perpetrators of the violence in Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, Delhi Riots 2020,<\/em> <\/em>written by the same three people who concocted the \u201cfact-finding report\u201d of June 2020, is clearly an attempt to lend respectability to the tissue of utter lies that Delhi Police is constructing under instructions from their superiors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given this background, the following kind of statement leaves us breathless at the audacity of the ruling dispensation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n India\u2019s Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal, who has published several books, said he will never work with Bloomsbury India again. \u201cA few weeks ago, I had raised the issue of how a tiny cabal controls Indian publishing and constantly imposes ideological censorship,\u201d he tweeted. \u201cWe have just witnessed one example of how this insidious control is wielded. I have not read the book in question & have no idea if it is good or bad. However, this is obviously not a quality control problem but about censorship.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That the evils of censorship are bemoaned by supporters of a regime that has put students and professors in jail for mere speech, would be mildly amusing if it were not so tragic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n