How author of Babur book got cancelled in BJP-ruled MP

In Madhya Pradesh, the stage was set at the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival. A session on a new book, Babur: The Quest for Hindustan, was scheduled on Saturday. Surprisingly, the book, which "challenges the conventional portrayal of Babur" and aims to challenge Babur's portrayal as being "tolerant towards Hindus", found itself in a raging controversy.

Activists of "Hindu organisations", who alleged that the book glorified Babur, issued threats, including calls to "burn the book and vandalise bookstore", the author of the book, Aabhas Maldahiyar claimed on X.

The backlash followed a critical news report about the book in a local news outlet and criticism from Madhya Pradesh's Culture Minister Dharmendra Singh Lodhi, who Maldahiyar claimed, "publicly condemned the session without reading even a single page of the book".

Maldahiyar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he "had no option but to write an open letter" to him.

RSS WRITER, BJP LEADER SLAM BACKLASH ON MALDAHIYAR'S BABUR BOOK

Reacting to Maldahiyar's post, several people, including some linked to the BJP and the RSS, called the backlash unfortunate, saying it exposed how the right wing was effectively biting its own hand.

Columnist-author Ashwin Sanghi, who called himself a "Bharatiya Civilisation Proponent" in his X bio, said it was "sad" and "unfortunate" to see Maldahiyar "under so much pressure". It was "unfortunate that Bhopal missed the opportunity to discuss a wonderful book that I personally had the privilege of endorsing", he wrote on X.

Author of six books on the RSS, Ratan Sharda, said he had "read the books by Aabhas [Maldahiyar] and had critically reviewed both".

"I believe, humbly, that I know a thing or two about Hindutva and RSS and history. I keep learning. Aabhas [Maldahiyar] fought against Islamists, seculars with solid research. It didn't behoove Swadesh [the news outlet] to create confusion and noise without reading. Nor was it good to 'cancel' an author without reading or hearing him. Dave ji comes from the solid legacy of a great thinker, prachaarak," Sharda wrote on X.

Sharda was referring to Vikas Dave, the Director of the Sahitya Akademi of Madhya Pradesh, who Maldahiyar said had "criticised the book and the session without reading the book".

Supreme Court lawyer-author, J Sai Deepak said, "To accuse Aabhas of glorifying Babur, couldn't get any worse".

"This is the time to stand by him so that hardworking scholars like him who serve the cause of Dharma are not discouraged by people who should be supporting and encouraging them," Deepak wrote on X.

BJP National Spokesperson Tuhin A Sinha said that "books should be criticised but only after thoroughly reading them and for the right reasons".

"Criticism borne out of ignorance and preconceived notions, is often self-defeating," said Sinha on X.

"Feel very sorry that even your book was subjected to such irresponsible treatment by the MP administration. [I] hope confidence will be taken in your post and necessary instructions will be issued to concerned officials. The world is full of Kalidasa..." a person named "Dr Harish Purohit" on X wrote.

The incident was used by some to claim that rage-baiting had boomeranged on the right wing.

The saga was "funny" because "it's the very same mob against whom we had been warning the Right Wing", wrote a person on X. "We told them vehemently not to back this bloodthirsty mob. Today it's us. Tomorrow it'll be YOU. True to form, we were met with laughter. Who's laughing now? Not us. Not you. So who?"

MALDAHIYAR SAYS BABUR BOOK CHALLENGES MUGHAL EMPEROR'S 'HINDU-TOLERENCE' IMAGE

The proposed session, author Aabhas Maldahiyar said, was intended to discuss the so-called "Bhopal Wasiyatnama, a nineteenth-century forgery falsely presented as Babur's will to portray him as tolerant towards Hindus".

"By cancelling the session, these self-proclaimed guardians of the cause destroyed an opportunity to expose a major Marxist fabrication at the very place of its origin; Bhopal," Maldahiyar posted on X.

In his open letter to PM Modi, Maldahiyar underlined that the book, Babur: The Quest for Hindustan, "documents the violence, terror, and destruction inflicted upon the people of this land". "I write to you with hope, not grievance alone," Maldahiyar said in the letter.

He also said that the book "decisively refutes the long-circulated myth that Maharana Sangram Singh invited Babur to Hindustan", a claim that he said has often been used to soften Babur's image in popular historiography.

Maldahiyar said that the book was the result of "over five years of work" and he learnt Persian for the project.

"I openly challenge all those who objected to the session to point out even a single page from my book where Babur is glorified," Maldahiyar wrote on X, adding that "on the contrary, this work has previously been criticised by sections of the Left for being critical of Babur".

He also flagged what he called a fundamental misunderstanding of the book's title itself, saying critics appeared not to have grasped that the word "Quest" denotes "pursuit", which he said was specifically, "Babur's attempt to fulfil Timur's ambition of establishing Dar-ul-Islam in Bharat".

"Beginning with the false reporting by Swadesh, I was systematically defamed through allegations that I never made. This episode exposes the alarming state of our public engagement with history," said Maldahiyar. "I am not disheartened merely because my session could not take place; I have long been accustomed to criticism and hostility from the Left," he said. What troubled Maldahiyar, he added, was that "those who claim to oppose Babur do not even recognise the scholars who are equipping them with intellectual tools for that very debate".

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