Sonia Gandhi refuses to bow, Congress takes aim at Penguin over RSS, Modi and China

The controversy surrounding the rejection of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, “Belonging: A Journey of Love,” by Penguin has ignited a political debate soon after the publisher’s statement that the “author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances”, which led the Congress to allege that the publisher demanded corrections in passages that deal with PM Narendra Modi, the RSS’s political influence and Chinese occupation of Indian territory.

The statement by Penguin Random House India deciding not to publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, in which it acknowledged that “as a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact-check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interests of their books,” was not satisfactory, since the same book is being published internationally by the publisher’s international arm.

This incongruity led senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot to question the motive behind the publisher’s decision to ask the author for editorial changes, which he described as nothing but pressure exerted upon the publisher to remove the section related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and China’s alleged occupation of Indian territory during the Modi government.

He wrote on X, “Pressuring and stopping the book of such a personality-rich, senior politician of the country and former Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, is akin to murdering the freedom of expression.”

Terming the pressure upon the publisher “the murder of democracy”, Gehlot further questioned, “Why is this truth being hidden from the people of India? Will the Modi government also force publishers to alter facts under pressure?”

Describing the refusal as a grave concern, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath asked whether the publisher would dictate what a senior figure like Mrs Gandhi should write and what she should not, and expressed suspicion over the decision to stop publishing the book under “suspicious circumstances”, calling it a threat to freedom of expression.

Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called the decision ‘weak’, alleging that Penguin India was found to have been happy to publish several books on the RSS and that the BJP government was afraid of a book being read by the people of India, while Congress Seva Dal chief Srinivas BV termed Penguin India as “Paltu Penguin”, critiquing its “editorial independence” as unconvincing.

The Indian Youth Congress questioned Penguin, asking what changes it wanted and why, calling its explanation “corporate grammar”, posting “Introducing Penguin Janta Party” and “Penguin hai ya pinjare ka parinda” on X, while Mahila Congress chief Alka Lamba accused Penguin and PRHI of using “blackmailing tactics” and praised Gandhi for refusing to “bow down”.

The Congress’s Kerala unit criticised the decision with an adage that reads, “Peacock blocking penguin is just an old man’s fantasy. Nothing can stop ‘Belonging’ from reaching you.”

Alfred A. Knopf, the US-based publishing house and a division of Penguin Random House, announced that the book’s first edition will be released on November 10, with an initial print run of 100,000 copies, and about the book, Knopf has described it as a “riveting memoir by one of the world’s most prominent women leaders that tells a richly engaging story of love, family, and an endlessly fascinating country: India.”

The memoir is expected to include the personal life surrounding Sonia Gandhi, such as her love relationship with Rajiv Gandhi, later becoming the bride of India, personal tragedies like the deaths of Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, as well as her eventual entry into public life and her decision not to become prime minister after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power following the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

The new controversy with Penguin India followed its previous announcement pertaining to its decision not to publish former Army chief General M M Naravane’s memoir, “Four Stars of Destiny,” which would put the Modi government under fire with its very sensitive contents, criticising the handling of the 2020 India-China border standoff and the Agnipath recruitment scheme. Early in June, it also rejected publishing graphic novelist Joe Sacco’s “The Once and Future Riot,” which narrates the sequences leading to the Muzaffarnagar riots.