Bookshop owners won't stock Laine's Shivaji
By: Urvashi Seth
(Mid-Day, April 30, 2007) After Bal Thackeray’s announcement that he instructed Sainiks to burn the copies of the James Laine’s book, Shivaji — Hindu King in Islamic India, in public, book sellers have become apprehensive about stocking copies of the book.
On Thursday, the Bombay High Court lifted the ban on the book.
According to sources, the Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena (BVS) has warned bookshop owners not to keep copies of the book or face strict action.
“Being a part of the Sena, we have requested all bookshop owners not to stock James Laine’s book,” said Abhijeet Panse, president of BVS.
Mandar Nerulkar, owner of the Ideal Book Depot, Dadar, said they won’t be selling the book after Bal Thackeray’s comments.
“The book has many defaming statements against Shivaji. Even though the court has lifted the ban we won’t be selling it, especially after we heard that Shiv Sena has taken an aggressive stance on the issue.”
“It’s very likely that the book won’t be coming into the market. If it comes, we will decide whether to stock it,” said Rohit Tengle of Book Zone at CST
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