In trying to give legal sanctity to a controversial political move,the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat has banned expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singhs book on the bizarre grounds that its contents are against the national interest and could mislead the public and disrupt public peace. Clearly,Modis view is not shared by his party counterparts in the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh,Karnataka,Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. • When asked about a ban on the book,Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: Mera aisa koi vichaar nahin hai (I have no such intention). State BJP vice president Vijendra Singh Sisodia said he would make up his mind (on the ban) only after I read the book. • The state government is yet to take a view,whether to ban the book or not is still under consideration,Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told The Sunday Express tonight. No proposal for banning the book in the state has come up before the Home Department so far, official sources said. • The general opinion is that there is no need to ban the book. We are not planning to ban the book, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said. We are not thinking on those lines at all. We are not going to ban the book, Home Minister V S Acharya told The Sunday Express. •Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal,who hosted the BJPs chintan baithak in Shimla,said there is no move to ban the book. The situation here does not warrant a ban on the book,he said. This has only further emphasised differences within the BJP over Singhs expulsion and subsequent ban on the book by Gujarat. Amid indications that the Gujarat government notification was issued without a proper reading of the book and identifying the offending portions,a senior State Home Department officer,on being asked,said: The Legal Department must have gone through the book. I have not read it. When contacted,State Law Secretary M H Shah also expressed ignorance about the reason for the ban. The notification,dated August 19,makes for interesting reading. The Government of Gujarat has come to know that a book named Jinnah India Partition-Independence written by Shri Jaswant Singh has been published, it reads. It also says that the government is of the view that the contents of the book are highly objectionable and are against the tranquility of the public and against the interest of the state. The notification,issued by the Home Department Under Secretary S S Brar takes recourse to Section 95 of the Criminal Procedure Code read with Sections 153A and 153 B of the Indian Penal Code. These deal with the crime of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion,race,place of birth,residence,language,etc.,and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. The maximum punishment that Singh could attract under this Section is three years in prison plus fine. Section 95 of the CrPC empowers the state to declare certain publications forfeited and to issue search warrants for the same. Interestingly,while announcing the ban,the state government had said: There are doubts and questions raised over the role and patriotism of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with respect to partition of the country. The book contains contradictory writings about the facts of history that can spoil the image of the son (Sardar Patel) of the soil of Gujarat and architect of the unity of India. However,there is no reference to any of this in the ban notification. (with ENS,Shimla,Bangalore,Raipur and Bhopal)
