Penguin India to destroy all copies of "The Hindus" due to religious pressure

Originally Posted by Iskariot

As always: a ban will be very good for spreading the book.

I wouldn't go that far. A book will only spread as a result of a ban if people are made aware of it, which means that it was probably a relatively popular book to start with.

It is also quite probable that some of the increase in circulation will be due to people wishing to make an informed decision while passing judgement.

[Apache]

Ebooks make it very difficult to ban any books if someone wants it bad enough.
Apache

[WT Sharpe]

I never heard of the book until the move to censor it. Now it's on both my Kindle and my To Be Read list.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I wouldn't go that far. A book will only spread as a result of a ban if people are made aware of it, which means that it was probably a relatively popular book to start with.

It is also quite probable that some of the increase in circulation will be due to people wishing to make an informed decision while passing judgement.

True, but books tend to only be banned if they are popular, otherwise, no one notices them.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

True, but books tend to only be banned if they are popular, otherwise, no one notices them.

Yep. In order for someone to want to ban something they 1st have to know that it exists which means someone has to have read it and spread the word of its existence by that method if nothing else. And that indicates a certain level of popularity as I've yet to hear of a book that only one person in the world has read being banned anywhere.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by crich70

Yep. In order for someone to want to ban something they 1st have to know that it exists which means someone has to have read it and spread the word of its existence by that method if nothing else. And that indicates a certain level of popularity as I've yet to hear of a book that only one person in the world has read being banned anywhere.

This book was published in March 2009, so it looks like it took a while for certain people to notice to book and push to ban it.

[sirmaru]

I added "The Hindus" to my eBook wish list.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

This book was published in March 2009, so it looks like it took a while for certain people to notice to book and push to ban it.

Not really. The news that prompted this thread was the settlement of a 4 year lawsuit.

[Namekuseijin]

well, better luck next life

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

Ridiculous. Penguin should be ashamed.

Penguin's withdrawal of The Hindus causes international outcry

Pirate copies are immediately being posted online in protest of this action.

I find blasphemy laws hilarious. The strength of their beliefs must be so tenuous that they are unable to stand the slightest criticism.

"One man's religion is another man's belly laugh"
-- Robert A. Heinlein

The freedom of speech is under attack everywhere. I am puzzled by those who aren't concerned by the US FCC's desire to place human monitors in US newsrooms. True, they backed down, but only when an FCC commissioner blew the whistle, saying the commission never got to vote on this thing.

Sandra Korn, a Harvard Senior, and a writer for the Harvard Crimson has published an article saying that free speech should be abolished on campus and that harvard should not guarantee students and professors the right to hold controversial views or to publish an research that might put a "justice" based Liberalism in a negative light. What is sad, is that she is a senior and about to go out into the world.

I didn't list these cases to argue these issues, the fact that these examples even exist to argue about, adds support to the idea that the freedom of speech is under attack. As readers and writers, I think we need to commit ourselves to defending the freedom to say unpleasant things and hold silly outrageous views.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

The freedom of speech is under attack everywhere. I am puzzled by those who aren't concerned by the US FCC's desire to place human monitors in US newsrooms. True, they backed down, but only when an FCC commissioner blew the whistle, saying the commission never got to vote on this thing.

Sandra Korn, a Harvard Senior, and a writer for the Harvard Crimson has published an article saying that free speech should be abolished on campus and that harvard should not guarantee students and professors the right to hold controversial views or to publish an research that might put a "justice" based Liberalism in a negative light. What is sad, is that she is a senior and about to go out into the world.

I didn't list these cases to argue these issues, the fact that these examples even exist to argue about, adds support to the idea that the freedom of speech is under attack. As readers and writers, I think we need to commit ourselves to defending the freedom to say unpleasant things and hold silly outrageous views.

She appears to be using her right to free speech to protest against free speech. How can she face herself in the mirror every morning, when she violates her beliefs like that??

[jayajha]

Just to clarify, this one is weird because neither government, nor courts have asked for a ban on this book. Indian government and politicians do and say their fair share of ridiculous things, but this is not one of them And freedom if speech here is much better than what a large percentage of world's population enjoys! (I wouldn't mind it becoming even better, particularly better protected by law, but that is another story.)

Penguin has voluntarily decided to do this and offered some flimsy excuse for that. I don't know if someone in the company was facing some death threat or what for taking such a step. Every group, religious or otherwise, has some crackpots, whose sole job in their lives is to get offended. I don't know what kind of threats Penguin felt to have withdrawn the book despite no legal compulsion.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

I didn't list these cases to argue these issues, the fact that these examples even exist to argue about, adds support to the idea that the freedom of speech is under attack. As readers and writers, I think we need to commit ourselves to defending the freedom to say unpleasant things and hold silly outrageous views.

I agree; but only as it applies to the US. What happens in other countries is not my concern.

[The Old Man]

Reminds me of the pressure by the academic community put upon Macmillan to stop the publication of Velikovsky’s Worlds in Collision in 1950. It was a bestseller and they sold the rights to Doubleday. Velikovsky dared to challenge the dogmas of “science.”

[shalym]

Originally Posted by jayajha

Just to clarify, this one is weird because neither government, nor courts have asked for a ban on this book. Indian government and politicians do and say their fair share of ridiculous things, but this is not one of them And freedom if speech here is much better than what a large percentage of world's population enjoys! (I wouldn't mind it becoming even better, particularly better protected by law, but that is another story.)

Penguin has voluntarily decided to do this and offered some flimsy excuse for that. I don't know if someone in the company was facing some death threat or what for taking such a step. Every group, religious or otherwise, has some crackpots, whose sole job in their lives is to get offended. I don't know what kind of threats Penguin felt to have withdrawn the book despite no legal compulsion.

So are you saying that the following quote from the author is a lie?
http://www.mhpbooks.com/penguin-pull...hurt-feelings/

I do not blame Penguin Books, India. Other publishers have just quietly withdrawn other books without making the effort that Penguin made to save this book. Penguin, India, took this book on knowing that it would stir anger in the Hindutva ranks, and they defended it in the courts for four years, both as a civil and as a criminal suit.

They were finally defeated by the true villain of this piece—the Indian law that makes it a criminal rather than civil offense to publish a book that offends any Hindu, a law that jeopardizes the physical safety of any publisher, no matter how ludicrous the accusation brought against a book.

Shari