BOOKS BANNED ON DIFFERENT LEGAL GROUNDS

THE GREAT SOUL by Joseph Lelyveld

Mahatma Gandhi is not just a freedom fighter in India. He is widely known as Rashtrapita or
Father of Nation and has gained a divine status in every Indians heart. From my experience
with truth to Gandhi behind the mask of divinity, many literary works based on Mohandas
Gandhi get involved into controversies and were highly criticized.
Joseph Lelyveld, ex editor of times of New York brought his book great soul in 2011 and due
to some contradicting and sensational lines; it met the same fate as it was in the case of above
mentioned books. After early reviews were published in Britain and American newspaper,
Articles began to circulate within India stating that Joseph Lelyveld had portrayed Gandhi as a
bisexual, racist and often ruthless politician. For a idol and leader lionized in south Asia for his
mantra of non violence, these remarks were found to be disgraceful and disrespected, ultimately
resulting in widespread protest countrywide.
While Lelyveld often denied these allegation and stated that there was no intention on his part to
insult and diminish the image of mahatma Gandhi and all the controversy surrounding it was due
to Indian media which left no stone unturned to sensationalize the matter, as far as possible,
people in India were not happy with the content of the book and Gandhi supporters denounced
the book as blasphemy. In some places including Gujarat (birth place of Mohandas Gandhi) , it
was banned and sellers were strictly warned for the same.
The issue which caught the nations eye was that of remarking (probably) Mahatma Gandhi as
bisexual and his alleged relationship with German athlete Herman Kallenbach. In one of the lines
in the book where Gandhi writes a letter to Kallenbech says that how completely you have
taken possession of my body. This is slavery with a vengeance. It didnt went down well with
the Indian readers and critics and was assumed that these lines depicts Gandhi in a homosexual
sate and trying to draw a picture of Gandhi sharing a intimate and physical relationship with his
south African fellow mate. Critics in India lashed out, calling the inclusion perverse and
insulting. However some critics like noted Gandhi historian Tridip Suhrud fiercely defended
Joseph Lelyveld against censorship.
Finally the book was banned in Gujarat and then union law minister Veerapa Moily announced
that the central government would ban the book great soul: mahatma Gandhi and his struggle
with India had no justification in fact, law or common sense.
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou
I know why the caged bird sings is the 1969 autobiography authored by afro-American writer
and poet by Maya Angelou. The books title was coined by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. The
caged bird, a symbol for the chained slave is an image Angelou uses throughout all her writing.

Basically the book depicts the early life and suffering of Maya and how after suffering
tremendous hardship and trauma, she transformed into a self- possessed, dignified young woman
capable of responding to prejudice.
The book starts when Maya was three year old and was send to his grandmothers place along
with her older brother. At the age of 8, she was a rape victim and she becomes a mother at the
age of 17. During these days she continuously faced racist remark and for the very same she was
exploited often.
Angelous autobiography explores subject such as identity, rape, racism and literacy with
intelligence and sophistication and women living in a male dominated society.
But because of some of the real and hard hitting depiction of Mayas life, this book too had to
suffer from the phase of censorship. Many states including Kansas banned the book and have
been criticized by many parents causing it to be removed from school curricula and library
shelves. Major issues related to its ban were its depiction of lesbianism, premarital cohabitation,
pornography and violence. And for many books sexually explicit graphics and content was the
major concern.
However no matter how widely it was criticized, panned, or banned, It is one of the most
influential, shocking and real novel ever written, getting a place in the nomination for national
book award, 1972.