Censorship – The Arts

The Pune unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) roughed up a bookseller working for ‘Hariti Publications’, which publishes Ambedkarite and progressive literature. The student organisation aligned with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, claimed that the literature sold by Hariti, was ‘anti-national’ in nature and promoted ‘Naxalism’. The book which was the bone of contention for the ABVP was ‘JNU Diary’, written by Mithilesh Priyadarshy.

From Saturday, the English department of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, was hosting a refreshment programme for students. Hariti Publishers, who have a popular outdoor selling setup, were contacted by a professor from the department to set-up the stall near the programme venue. This is when, the ABVP, after noticing the books, began enquiring if the seller had any permissions.

Shyam Ghuge, who sells books for Hariti, said, “We did not have any written legal permission that day as we did not really know if such a thing was required. Once the ABVP activists started threatening us and called up security guards, we told them, that we will get the necessary permission but they had no right to threaten us,” adding, “but they were threatening us and telling us that we cannot sell such ‘anti-national’ material.”