New Delhi: On Sunday, right-wing Twitter descended on writer and historian William Dalrymple and declared him the “architect” behind Bloomsbury India’s move on Saturday to withdraw a controversial book on the Delhi riots.This came after a right-wing website published an article based on a tweet by Aatish Taseer in which he said that he was grateful to Dalrymple “for his efforts in putting a stop to this shameful bit of state propaganda”.This is great news. This book was not so much the work of an individual as it was a coercive attempt by the ruling party (and its thugs) to write history. It deserves to be pulped. Congratulations @BloomsburyIndia @BloomsburyPub https://t.co/HB1p568Hr5— Aatish Taseer (@AatishTaseer) August 22, 2020Taking a cue from the article even though none of its assertions were established, #BoycottWilliam Dalrymple began trending, with filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and JNU biochemistry professor Anand Ranganathan – two of whose books have been published by Bloomsbury – leading the charge.In response to Bloomsbury’s decision, Ranganathan, who is also a consulting editor with Swarajya magazine, said he would return the advance paid by Bloomsbury for his upcoming book, Forgotten Heroes of Indian Science.1. I am appalled to see @BloomsburyIndia, publisher of two of my books, buckle under threats by fascists and withdraw the book Delhi Riots – 2020. I stand in complete solidarity with the authors.This is an assault on Freedom of Expression and on those who cherish this freedom.— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) August 22, 20203. If Bloomsbury does not retract its decision, my co-author and I have decided that we will return the substantial advance paid to us by Bloomsbury for our forthcoming book.We cannot allow our book to be published by a house that does not respect Freedom of Expression. pic.twitter.com/nwTvC3Soue— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) August 22, 2020Agnihotri questioned Dalrymple’s position as festival director of Jaipur Literature Festival in a thread and called on the PMO and the home ministry to take a look into the matter.MOST IMPORTANT:According to the son of Tavleen Singh, a Hindu hater Aatish Taseer, the real architect of pulping of the book is none other than William Dalrymple. WD has huge COMMERCIAL CLOUT with @BloomsburyUK. So BBUK surrendered to commerce and politics of Aatish and WD. 1/5 https://t.co/6Yn1wJU27G— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) August 23, 2020Let’s play the same game that British #UrbanNaxals William Dalrymple played against Indians – Let us pledge to put Jaipur Lit Fest under scanner and #BoycottWilliamDalrymple— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) August 23, 2020The book, Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, by authors Monica Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra, was withdrawn by Bloomsbury India following a storm of criticism. The chief guest at the launch was supposed to be BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who had made a provocative speech before the violence began in February in the capital that left 53 people dead. Other chief guests included Agnihotri and ‘OpIndia’ website in-charge Nupur Sharma.Also Read: Delhi Riots 2020: A Critique of Two Purported Fact-Finding Reports“In view of very recent events including a virtual pre-publication launch organised without our knowledge by the authors, with participation by parties of whom the publishers would not have approved, we have decided to withdraw publication of the book. Bloomsbury India strongly supports freedom of speech but also has a deep sense of responsibility towards society,” the statement released by Bloomsbury read.Arora took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to say that the authors are considering taking legal action against Bloomsbury India.@BloomsburyIndiaDon’t dump yr authorsWe deserve at least an email from u that u have abandoned us & yr book#DelhiRiotsTheUntoldStoryU have removed it from all platforms. People can’t read.Will international activists decide what Indians will read?Even #brownlivesmatter pic.twitter.com/yLYKj1K9iu— Monika Arora (@advmonikaarora) August 23, 2020In the wake of the decision, several authors have indicated or outright said that they will not work with Bloomsbury India again. Among them is the government’s principal economic advisor Sanjeev Sanyal. “A few weeks ago, I had raised the issue of how a tiny cabal controls Indian publishing and constantly imposes ideological censorship,” he tweeted.Also read: Bloomsbury Withdraws Book on Delhi Riots Launched By BJP’s Kapil Mishra“We have just witnessed one example of how this insidious control is wielded. I have not read the book in question and have no idea if it is good or bad. However, this is obviously not a quality control problem but about censorship. I commit to never publish a book with Bloomsbury India,” he said.Retired IAS officer Sanjay Dixit, whose inflammatory posts on Twitter have often promoted fake news, followed suit and called Bloomsbury’s decision “unacceptable”. He announced an end to his relationship with the publisher.This censorship by @BloomsburyIndia is unacceptable. I do hereby announce that I am ending my relationship with them, and will send Bloomsbury a notice to withdraw my book ‘Nullifying Article 370 and Enacting CAA’ due to be released on Sep 20, 2020. Let them paint themselves Red https://t.co/K609dLw3yN— Sanjay Dixit ಸಂಜಯ್ ದೀಕ್ಷಿತ್ संजय दीक्षित (@Sanjay_Dixit) August 22, 2020Agnihotri took to using war metaphors to refer to “giving space to leftists” in response to Dixit’s tweet.You are making a tactical mistake by giving space to leftists and #UrbanNaxals like #BoycottWilliamDalrymple because THIS IS EXACTLY what WHITE British Hindu haters want. Please don’t. https://t.co/2X5oZ8FF6N— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) August 23, 2020He then declared Dalrymple “the enemy of native, Indian voices”.Sorry for spamming your TL but this is such a moment when only CARPET BOMBING will win us the war. Take it as a tactic and trend only #BoycottWilliamDalrymple – the enemy of native, Indian voices.All the best.— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) August 23, 2020Journalist Abhijit Majumder decided to go against the strain by saying he would be going ahead with Bloomsbury as his choice of publisher for his upcoming book, but also took a swipe at Dalrymple by tweeting: “We should not cede an inch of space in publishing. That’s what they want. Rise of nationalist voices.”Rare time when I disagree with Anand. I have a book coming up with Bloomsbury and I won’t cancel it.We should not cede an inch of space in publishing. That’s what they want. Rise of nationalist voices in books is what India’s new viceroys like William Dalrymple want to stop. https://t.co/zUqsYdxXdm— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) August 23, 2020Majumder also questioned Dalrymple’s legal status in India.Why should William Dalrymple, actively throttling Indian voices and FoE in publishing industry, get Indian visa?Why should his books be in online, offline bookstores here?How can he run litfests here?What is the legal status of his Mehrauli farmhouse?#BoycottWilliamDalrymple— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) August 23, 2020Observer Research Foundation’s Kanchan Gupta also slammed the publishing industry for being biased towards “left-liberal authors” and took a dig at cancel culture.Loathsome ‘cancel culture’ rears its unsightly head in #India as @BloomsburyIndia dumps book on Delhi riot under pressure from bully #LeftLiberal activists and Islamists. Book was due to be published in September. This is a new low. All who believe in freedom should protest. 1/n pic.twitter.com/BoDhAKuK3k— Kanchan Gupta (@KanchanGupta) August 22, 2020On Twitter, other right-wing voices demanded that the Jaipur Lit Fest come under scrutiny.Dear @ZeeTV @subhashchandra You are d primary sponsor of @JLFLitfest. Do you support गोरा साहिब @DalrympleWill suppressing voice of Indian women @advmonikaarora @sonalimiranda by pressuring @BloomsburyIndia to withdraw the book #DelhiRiotsTheUntoldStory? https://t.co/f7FWCqtEQF— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) August 23, 2020
