Assam has banned a book that triggered protests across the State as it allegedly showed Sankaradeva, the most revered 16th century saint-reformer and religious preacher of Assam, in poor light.

Making this announcement, Government spokesman and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma said the Government had imposed the ban in view of derogatory remarks made in the book, Sankar Bibhrat, against the saint-reformer and the large-scale protests that it had triggered across the state.

The book is written by Srikanta Deva Sarma, a Guwahati-based priest. “The Government is also examining the scope of taking legal action against the author of the book,” the spokesman said.

The Asam Satra Mahasabha, apex body of vaishnavite monasteries in the state, was the first to react when Sarma’s book came out a couple of months ago. It has demanded not only a ban on the book, but also exemplary punishment to the author.

Sarma, however, claimed he hadn’t done anything wrong. “I have not written anything new. I have only compiled certain facts already contained in many books published in the past. I have also mentioned the name of the books from which I have picked up these aspects. I am helpless if some people feel offended over it,” Sarma, who issued a statement on Monday, said. He claimed that he had picked up ‘facts’ about the life of Sankaradeva from 16 books written by different authors and scholars and tried to point out the contradictions that these books contain. “I am not an author. I have only tried to put together several contradictions that these 16 books written by eminent scholars and authors contain about Sankaradeva. I have no reason or intention to demean Sankaradeva,” Sarma said.

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