Now Reading: Penguin India denies withdrawing from Sonia Gandhi memoir
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Penguin India denies withdrawing from Sonia Gandhi memoir
Penguin Random House India has said it is not the publisher of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, and that reports claiming it withdrew after she rejected editorial…
Penguin Random House India has said it is not the publisher of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, and that reports claiming it withdrew after she rejected editorial changes are inaccurate. The publisher said fact-checking and editorial suggestions are normal, and it remains keen to publish the book.
Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath, accused the publisher of bowing to pressure to remove portions critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS, and China's alleged occupation of Indian territory. Gehlot called it a murder of freedom of expression. The book has been published internationally by Alfred A. Knopf.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Gulf News reports the publisher's denial without comment. Frontline frames the dispute as part of a pattern of books being suppressed in India, citing past controversies over works on Jinnah, Ramdev and Rushdie. The Hindu leads with Congress accusations that Penguin India succumbed to government pressure. The critical framing highlights political censorship fears, while the neutral version sticks to the publisher's denial. The Congress claims about specific excised passages are not confirmed by Penguin. The publisher's next statement, if any, will clarify whether the book gets an Indian release.
Coverage: 3 sources, 2 government-critical, 1 neutral
Sources (3): gulfnews.com (neutral report), frontline.thehindu.com (government critical), thehindu.com (government critical)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
