Bengaluru: Wendy Doniger's On Hinduism, Ramachandra Guha’s India After Gandhi and Nathuram Godse's Why I Assassinated Gandhi occupy pride of place in Blossom’s, one of Bengaluru’s best-known bookshops.
There are various groups that would like both Doniger and Godse to be well-hidden from the public eye, but it clearly, city’s intellectual curiosity isn’t so easily suppressed.
Mayi Gowda, owner, Blossoms, says Godse's book, which includes his final recorded statement in court before his assassination, has been flying off the shelves. "We have sold about 600 copies in the last six months," he added.
Nathuram Godse's statement, which was originally called ‘Why I Killed Gandhi’, was published in Marathi by his brother Gopal Godse and subsequently banned. The ban was lifted in 1968 and editions in English began to appear in 1970, but copyright issues kept it off the shelves. "Farsight Publishers and Distributors reprinted it in 2015," Gowda said.
Sapna Book House, another leading chain of bookstores, is in agreement with this. "The book was brought in about a year ago, very quietly, because it could have resulted in trouble," said an official from Sapna Book House, on condition of anonymity.
"We have been selling about three copies a day, close to a 1000 in all. Sales are neck-and-neck with Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History."
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