The Hindus: An Alternative History
{{short description|2009 book by Wendy Doniger}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Hindus: An Alternative History
| image = The Hindus, an alternative history.jpg
| author = Wendy Doniger
| country = United States
| language = English
| subject = Hinduism
| publisher = Viking Press
| pub_date = 2009
| pages = 800
| media_type = Print
| isbn = 978-0143116691
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
}}
The Hindus: An Alternative History is a book by American Indologist Wendy Doniger which the author describes as an "alternative to the narrative of Hindu history that they tell".Pankaj Mishra, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/books/review/Mishra-t.html 'Another Incarnation']", in New York Times, April 24, 2009 The book was initially published by Viking Penguin in 2009 and later in India by Penguin's Indian subsidiary, Penguin India.
The book was criticized in India, and in February 2014 it was the subject of litigation in India for "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the feelings of any religious community". As a result of the lawsuit, the book was withdrawn from the Indian market by its Indian publisher, prompting widespread concerns about the state of free speech in India. Twenty months later, the book returned to the Indian market under a different publisher, Speaking Tiger Books.{{cite web|author=B Mahesh |url=http://www.punemirror.in/news/india/Donigers-Hindus-returns-20-months-after-its-withdrawal/articleshow/50080603.cms |title=Doniger's Hindus returns, 20 months after its withdrawal |website=Pune Mirror |date=8 December 2010 |accessdate=16 December 2015}}
Overview
The book, published in 2009 by Viking/Penguin, was explicitly intended as an alternative history of Hinduism, the mainstream history being (in the author's view) written from male Brahminical and white Orientalist perspectives. Doniger instead portrays the history of Hinduism from the point of view of women, dogs, horses and outcastes in a "playful, iconoclastic, and inherently controversial" style.{{Citation |first=McComas |last=Taylor |title=Mythology Wars: The Indian Diaspora, Wendy's Children and the Struggle for the Hindu Past |journal=Asian Studies Review |year=2011 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=149–168 |url=https://alliance.anu.edu.au/access/content/user/u3936301/mythology_wars.pdf |doi=10.1080/10357823.2011.575206|s2cid=145317607 }}
Reception
According to the Hindustan Times, The Hindus was a No. 1 bestseller in its non-fiction category in the week of October 15, 2009."[http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle-news/books/Top-authors-this-week/Article1-465565.aspx Top authors this week] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812045924/http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle-news/books/Top-authors-this-week/Article1-465565.aspx |date=2010-08-12 }}" Hindustan Times Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, October 15, 2009 Two scholarly reviews in the Social Scientist and the Journal of the American Oriental Society, though praising Doniger for her textual scholarship, criticized factual errors in her coverage of British colonialists in India and her lack of focus.{{Sfn|Shrimali|2010|p=80}}{{Sfn|Rocher|2012|p=303}}
In the popular press, the book has received many positive reviews, for example from the Library Journal,James F. DeRoche, Library Journal, 2009-02-15 the Times Literary Supplement,David Arnold. "Beheading Hindus And other alternative aspects of Wendy Doniger's history of a mythology", Times Literary Supplement, July 29, 2009 the New York Review of Books,David Dean Shulman, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/nov/19/a-passion-for-hindu-myths/ 'A Passion for Hindu Myths,'] in New York Review of Books, Nov 19, 2009, pp. 51–53. the New York Times, and The Hindu.A R Venkatachalapathy, "[http://www.thehindu.com/books/article323791.ece Understanding Hinduism]" The Hindu March 30, 2010Raman, V.V. "Doniger, Wendy. The Hindus: an alternative history." CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries Aug. 2009: 2338. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
In January 2010, the National Book Critics Circle named The Hindus as a finalist for its 2009 book awards.[http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/national-book-critics-circle-finalists-are-announced/?scp=1&sq=book%20critics%20circle&st=cse] "National Book Critics Circle Finalists Are Announced" New York Times January 23, 2010 The Hindu American Foundation protested this decision, alleging inaccuracies and bias in the book.{{cite web|url=https://www.hafsite.org/media/pr/nbccletter|title=NBCCLetter|website=Hindu American Foundation (HAF)}}
Court case in India
While scholarly and popular reviews were by and large positive, it quickly drew much ire in the Indian blogosphere and the internet more generally, following what Taylor calls "a decade of bad blood, flaming, and hurtful personal attacks" following the publication of Kali's Child and several other controversial works.{{r|taylor}}
The book was criticised by Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samithi (Hindi: शिक्षा बचाओ आंदोलन समिति, "Committee for Struggle to Save Education"), founded by Dinanath Batra, arguing that the work was "riddled with heresies" and that the contents are offensive to Hindus. In 2011 he filed a lawsuit under Section 295A of Indian Penal Code, which forbids deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the feelings of any religious community, and in February 2014, it was the subject of litigation in India.{{cite web | url=http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/indianpenalcode/indianpenalcode.html#Section_295A_Deliberate_and_malicious_acts_intended_to_outrage_religious_feelings_or_any_class_by_insulting_its_religion_or_religious_beliefs | title=Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, Section 295A | website=Vakilno1.com | accessdate=February 18, 2014}} The book was withdrawn from the Indian market by its Indian publisher,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/world/asia/indian-publisher-withdraws-book-stoking-fears-of-nationalist-pressure.html?hp&_r=0|accessdate=15 February 2014|title=Indian Publisher Withdraws Book, Stoking Fears of Nationalist Pressure|work=The New York Times |date=14 February 2014 |last1=Barry |first1=Ellen }}{{citation|title=Wendy Doniger book 'to be recalled' by Penguin India|publisher = BBC, India news|date=11 February 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-26133291}} Penguin India, who agreed to destroy all the existing copies within six months commencing from February 2014.{{cite news|last=Kapur|first=Ratna|title=Totalising history, silencing dissent|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/totalising-history-silencing-dissent/article5690041.ece|accessdate=15 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=15 February 2014}}
There was a Streisand effect on the sales of the book and its sales effectively increased. Some bookstores continued to secretly sell the book, wrapped in brown paper.{{cite web |last=Praveen |first=S.R. |date=16 February 2014 |title=Streisand effect on Doniger's book |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/streisand-effect-on-donigers-book/article5694795.ece |accessdate=16 February 2014 |website=The Hindu}}
The publishers blamed the "British vintage Section 295A of IPC" for withdrawal of the books and felt that it was difficult to maintain international standards of free speech in light of this section.{{cite news|last=Joshua|first=Anita|title=No Country for free speech, says Penguin|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-country-for-free-speech-says-penguin/article5688586.ece|accessdate=14 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=14 February 2014}} The decision to withdraw the book was widely criticised and certain thinkers felt that Penguin should have defended the case effectively and upheld freedom of expression.{{cite news|last=Soutik|first=Biswas|title=Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: Penguin India defends decision to recall book|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-26184819|accessdate=15 February 2014|newspaper=BBC News India|date=14 February 2014}} Widespread concerns were raised about the state of free speech in India.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/13/penguin-withdrawal-hindus-arundhati-roy-neil-gaiman | title=Penguin's withdrawal of The Hindus causes international outcry | work=The Guardian | date=February 13, 2014 | accessdate=February 18, 2014 | author=Flood, Alison}}{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-the-hindus-pulled-by-penguin-india-prompting-outrage-20140213,0,1270574.story#ixzz2thTkqYfn | title='The Hindus' pulled by Penguin Books India, prompting outrage | work=Los Angeles Times | date=February 13, 2014 | accessdate=February 18, 2014 | author=Tobar, Hector}}{{cite magazine | url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/02/wendy-doniger-free-speech-india.html | title=Why Free Speech Loses in India | magazine=The New Yorker | date=February 14, 2014 | accessdate=February 18, 2014 | author=Shainin, Jonathan}}
According to plaintiff attorney Monika Arora, she merely asked the publisher Penguin to fix errors in the book.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsq9jAEpAY8 Supreme Court Lawyer Monika Arora Explains Lawsuit Against Wendy’s Book] July 19, 2016. Arora says the withdrawal of the book by Penguin India and subsequent republishing under a different publisher was a scheme to avoid addressing factual errors in court.
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite journal | doi = 10.1177/037698361003700215| title = Wendy Doniger, the Hindus: An Alternative History (New York: Penguin), 2009. 779 pages. $35| journal = Indian Historical Review| volume = 37| issue = 2| pages = 338–345| year = 2011| last1 = Gilmartin | first1 = David| s2cid = 145306543}}
- {{cite journal | doi = 10.1177/037698361003700214| title = Wendy Doniger, the Hindus: An Alternative History (New York: Penguin), 2009. 779 pages. Rs 999| journal = Indian Historical Review| volume = 37| issue = 2| pages = 333–338| year = 2011| last1 = Kolff | first1 = D. H. A.| s2cid = 144502043}}
- {{cite journal|last=Rocher|first=Ludo|date=April–June 2012
|title=Review: The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=132|issue=2|pages=302–304|jstor=10.7817/jameroriesoci.132.2.0302|doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.132.2.0302}}
- {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1177/026272801203200107| title = Book Reviews: The Hindus: An Alternative History| journal = South Asia Research| volume = 32| pages = 77–79| year = 2012| last1 = Shome | first1 = S.| s2cid = 146885979}}
- {{Cite journal | first = K.M. | last = Shrimali| title = The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger| year = 2010| journal = Social Scientist| volume = 38| issue = 7/8| pages = 66–81| jstor = 27866725}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindus An Alternative History}}
Category:2009 non-fiction books
Category:21st-century Indian books
Category:Books by Wendy Doniger
Category:Book censorship in India
Category:Books republished after being withdrawn
Category:English-language non-fiction books
Category:Indian non-fiction books
Category:Religious controversies in India
Category:Hinduism-related mass media and entertainment controversies