I am shocked to see that thousands of Hindus and Indians are gathering online in a Taliban like way to force the withdrawal of Wendy Doniger’s excellent book “The Hindus: An Alternative History” published by Penguin.

The petition for the withdrawal of the book can be read at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/dharma10/petition.html – where it describes the book as insulting and hurtful to Hindus and Indians everywhere. That is ridiculous.

In reaction to this I have launched a counter petition at http://petol.org/THAAH123 with a point by point response to their erroneous analysis and would be grateful if you could let everyone you know about this.

This petition is a counter response to the shameful demand for the withdrawal or banning of this excellent book. I support much of what the book purports and even more importantly I support Wendy Doniger’s right to write, publish and propagate her opinion without the misplaced intervention of xenophobes and Indic or Hindu arrogance. I urge Penguin not to succumb to the pressure of this group and instead encourage them to take the high road as well as the path taken by most Hindus throughout history and allow for the free exchange of ideas, discussion and dialogue. We are an inclusive faith and an ever-absorbing people and do not condone xenophobia or prejudice of this kind.

Wendy is being awarded at the National Book Critics Center Awards in New York at 6pm on Wednesday 10th March 2010 – there are planned protests in support of her book as well as one planned by USHA against the book. Please come out and support Wendy if you are in NYC.

Thank you for joining this cause. The petition is at http://petol.org/THAAH123.

Thank you all lovers of free speech and Hindu tolerance.

Raja Choudhury
New Delhi
raja@c3cube.com
+91 9871586502