Controversial book on Ram Mandir dropped
BENGALURU: A controversial book on Ram Mandir was dropped from the list of books selected for purchase for public libraries in Karnataka, pending government approval. The decision was announced on Tuesday by the state-level Book Selection Committee (for public libraries) chaired by Dr Doddarange Gowda.
The committee, for the year 2018, had selected ‘Rama Mandira Yeke Beda’, a book by K S Bhagwan. The public had objected to it, with right-wing organisations protesting against the author for depicting Lord Ram in poor light, and claiming that Ram is not a God.
In 2018, as many as 10,571 books were selected for purchase. From September 2020 to December 2020, 10 meetings were held and the list was scrutinised. The committee finally selected 5,109 books.
Publishers and authors of books which were not selected, asked the committee to reconsider its decision. Another meeting was held on December 10, where the book by Bhagwan, published by Ladai Prakashana, Gadag, was taken up for reconsideration (after being tagged ‘controversial’ and dropped).
It was book number 4,062 of the 5,109 books being reconsidered. However, the committee blamed the lack of finances for dropping the book. “
The committee decided that the first 350 titles would be purchased through the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Trust Foundation, and 300 copies of each would be purchased. No government grants were available for purchase of the remaining books, hence there was no question of purchasing the book,” the committee said.