Banning books is banning thinking: Jaswant Singh

Shimla, Aug 20: Responding to the Gujarat government's move to ban his book on Jinnah, Jaswant Singh equated the act of banning books to 'banning thinking'.

Expressing that he was 'saddened' by this move, Jaswant Singh likened himself to author Salman Rushdie whose book 'Satanic Verses' was banned for containing controversial content on Islam.

When asked about BJP's contention that the decision to sack him was based on the fact that his comments on Jinnah were against the party's ideology, Singh said, "Let me understand why (I was expelled). Nobody has told me."

Jaswant Singh was expelled from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, Aug 19 for praising Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his new book 'Jinnah: India Partition Independence'. The book also blames Indian leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai patel for Indo-Pak partition.

Hours after this decision was taken by the party, Narendra Modi's government issued a notification to ban the book claiming that the book not only questioned Patel's patriotic spirit but also tarnished the leader's image.

OneIndia News