New Delhi: Several Congress leaders on Friday questioned why Sonia Gandhi's memoir is not being published in India by Penguin Random House India, despite its international release through another imprint of the publishing group, and raised allegations of government pressure.
Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the publisher was ready to release Gandhi's upcoming book in its original form worldwide but wanted changes to publish it in India.
"After all, what is this reason or pressure that prevents them from printing in India what is being printed worldwide? Mrs. Sonia Gandhi Ji's life is an example of sacrifice and dedication."
"The dignity with which she has served the nation is exemplary. Pressuring and stopping the book of such a personality-rich, senior politician of the country and former Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi Ji, is akin to murdering the freedom of expression," he said.
Gehlot also alleged that pressure was put on Penguin India to remove sections relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and China's occupation of Indian territory during the Modi regime.
"This is the murder of democracy. Why is this truth being hidden from the people of India? Will the Modi government also force publishers to alter facts under pressure?" Gehlot said in a post in Hindi on X.
Senior party leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath said the publisher's decision was a matter of grave concern and questioned whether it had acted under pressure.
"Will the publisher decide what a senior figure like Mrs. Gandhi will write and what she will not? The question also arises whether the publisher is saying this on its own or if there is pressure from someone on it? Even before this, the publication of some important books has been stopped under suspicious circumstances. I consider this kind of trend a serious threat to the freedom of expression," Nath said in his post in Hindi.
Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi also criticised Penguin India's position, saying, "Such a weak statement. Penguin India is more than happy to publish 'Exam Warriors' and several books on RSS. No doubt there are those in the BJP government who have now become afraid of a book being read by the people of India," he said on X.
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Penguin Random House India, however, said it had remained "willing and keen to publish the book" and that it was its "prerogative and responsibility to fact check authors and provide recommendations" as part of the normal publishing process.
"Throughout the relevant discussions, Penguin Random House India's position was that we remained willing and keen to publish the book. We will not comment further on confidential discussions with the author," the statement added.
The memoir, 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', is due to be released internationally on November 10 by Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
The status of the book's distribution in India remains uncertain. A page on e-commerce website Amazon showed an ebook version of 'Belonging' available for pre-order at Rs 2,615. According to the website, the e-book is published by William Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins UK.
The book's India release has been a matter of speculation since Alfred A Knopf's announcement.
The 79-year-old Congress leader, according to Alfred A Knopf, will write about her marriage into one of India's most prominent political families, the death of her husband Rajiv Gandhi that drew her into the "public world of politics", and her decision to turn down the prime minister's post in 2004, among other subjects.
