NEW DELHI: A day after Bloomsbury India announced that it will withdraw from publishing a book on the Delhi violence following outrage on social media about the guests invited for the launch, as many as three authors on Saturday announced that they were withdrawing their books which were to be published by the company.
Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, written by Monica Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra, was set to be published by Bloomsbury India.
Three authors who severed ties with the publication include retired IAS officer Sanjay Dixit, Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Anand Ranganathan and Sandeep Deo.
Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, who’s written multiple bestsellers for the publishing house, said it is the responsibility of publishers to ethically endorse and publish what they can stand by and for, no matter what the circumstance.
“The integrity of any publisher is much more critical than catering to the majoritarian view and in this case, a blatantly right-wing agenda that has triggered communal violence and dented the secular fabric of our nation,” she said.
The author added that she believes that the controversy indicates a rising and dangerous trend. Following the massive backlash faced online, the publishing house had on Saturday announced their decision to not publish the book under its auspices.