Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story

"It is my privilege and a very pleasant duty to write the foreword for Delhi Riots 2020: An Untold Story, which is not a normal kind of book but a serious document of intense research."

"I dedicate this book to all the victims of the Delhi riots in North East Delhi... Nothing that we write or say can convey the depth of the tragedy of these riots. This book is an attempt to bring out the true story of the Delhi Riots. It is a call for remembering that communal fault lines were created between neighbours by ideologically vested interests comprising Urban Naxals and Jihadi elements who had an agenda to implement—to systematically conflagrate areas with mixed populations of Hindus and Muslims and take these areas from dharna to danga."

"In 1990, the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from what is now the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir saw them moving to areas like Vasant Kunj. Delhi welcomed Tibetan refugees as they fled from Chinese occupation. The Tibetan refugees made a life in the city, settling in North Delhi in the Majnu Ka Tilla neighbourhood. A walk through these lanes will transport one to Lhasa."

"Anti-CAA, anti-NRC, anti- NPR protests eventually became a protest against all other religions of the country, anti-police, anti-government and anti-India."

"Further slogans like ‘Hinduon se azadi’ (Freedom from Hindus), ‘Hindutva se azadi’ (Freedom from Hindutva), etc., had nothing to do with the Constitution or the CAA."

"He was a Shiva bhakt (devotee) and even travelled as a Kanwariya during the annual Kanwar Yatra... he was lovingly called Bhola Baba or Shiv Baba by his family and friends... On the night of 24 February, around 10.30pm, Vinod and his son Monu stepped out of the house to buy medicines for Vinod’s grandson... A stone hit Monu Kashyap, and the bike on which the father and son were riding slipped. As though out of nowhere, a crowd of 200 people carrying stones and shouting ‘Allah-hu- Akbar’ surrounded the two of them. They were attacked repeatedly till Monu pretended to be dead and lost consciousness. Social media videos show a dead Vinod being dragged on the streets. Bhole Baba had been lynched to death. ...We went around the area and saw the road where the incident happened. We were told that Vinod made the mistake of crossing the ‘border’ that exists between Hindu and Muslim areas on Wazirabad Road. As soon as someone from the other side came within grabbing distance he was caught, surrounded and lynched to death."

"Bloomsbury India had planned to release Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story in September, a book purportedly giving a factual report on the riots in Delhi in February 2020, based on investigations and interviews conducted by the authors. However, in view of very recent events including a virtual pre-publication launch organised without our knowledge by the authors, with participation by parties of whom the Publishers would not have approved, we have decided to withdraw publication of the book. Bloomsbury India strongly supports freedom of speech but also has a deep sense of responsibility towards society."

"I alerted Bloomsbury to the growing online controversy over Delhi Riots 2020, as did several other Bloomsbury authors, I did not call for its banning or pulping and have never supported the banning of any book. It is now being published by another press."

"Democracy gives space to opinion and contrary opinion... and the way to fight it is dissent and education and it always is and will be a struggle for the truth… but banning and withdrawing is not a solution in a healthy democracy…."

"This censorship by @BloomsburyIndia is unacceptable. I do hereby announce that I am ending my relationship with them, and will send Bloomsbury a notice to withdraw my book ‘Nullifying Article 370 and Enacting CAA’ due to be released on Sep 20, 2020. Let them paint themselves."

"I am writing this chapter after I decided decided to pull this book from Bloomsbury, after they had listed it for sale on Amazon and other e-commerce market places, in the wake of their suppression of the Freedom of Speech of the authors of a book lined up for release, the now famous ‘Delhi Riots 2020—The Untold Story’."

"I have not read the book in question & have no idea if it is good or bad. However, this is obviously not a quality control problem but about censorship. I commit to never publish a book with @BloomsburyIndia."

"If I disapproved of the ban on The Satanic Verses, if I disapproved of Dinanath Batra (whom I called “Ban Man” in my article in The Washington Post), if I disapproved of how Taslima Nasreen was hounded and attacked in Hyderabad by Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, then I can’t suddenly do a volte face and chest-thump today. When you ban a book, it acquires a kind of cult status because the market fuels curiosity. That is what happened with other banned books. In fact, there are books chronicling banned books by different regimes in history...All I am saying is that forcing Bloomsbury India to withdraw the book is counter-productive – both politically and in the pure sense of how market forces work... Where do you draw the line? Today, many are relieved that this book will not find a publisher in Bloomsbury. But what will you do if Swarajya or OpIndia launches a publishing house of its own in the future?"

"[Sanyal described the withdrawal of the book as an act of] “ideological censorship”, [which demonstrated] “how a tiny cabal controls Indian publishing and constantly imposes ideological censorship. We have just witnessed one example of how this insidious control is wielded.”"

"This decision by Bloomsbury should be condemned by ALL writers and readers. If Bloomsbury does not retract its decision, my co-author and I have decided that we will return the substantial advance paid to us by Bloomsbury for our forthcoming book."

"Bloomsbury should apologize to the people of India. And Bloomsbury should not be allowed to publish or distribute their books in India. because if we are the largest democracy then why did pull back the Delhi Riots 2020 book? Why? ... If there is an expose on the Delhi Riots ...then it is something that should be known. ... I see absolutely no reason to withdraw the book. It is an excuse... We must speak truth on it, and if we have Freedom of Expression in this country,... This is a complete attack on the Freedom of Expression. So we must bring this book on the shelves and if Bloomsbury does not bring this book back on the shelves then Bloomsbury should leave India. .. The next cabal we have to break is the cabal of these publishers."

"The literary world must take a stand [to stop Bloomsbury publishing the book]. This is not about cancel culture. This is about defending literature from fascism. This is about standing up against religious divide, hate speech, islamophobia and false history."