The Gujarat government, which banned Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Jinnah alleging it was an attempt to tarnish the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has in its notification described it as "highly objectionable and against national interest".
The notification by the home department, a copy of which is with the PTI, does not mention the name of Sardar Patel regarding whom the book has some "defamatory references."
While banning the 600-page 'Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence' yesterday, the state government had claimed that it (book) was an attempt to tarnish the image of country's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
However, the notification issued late last night stated, "...the Government of Gujarat is of the opinion that the contents of the book are misleading to the public and are against the tranquility of the public and against the interests of the state."
"Whereas the government of Gujarat is of the opinion that the book must be forfeited and prohibited in the interest of the state," the notification added.
The state government has banned the book under relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Penal Code, the notification said.
"The Government of Gujarat forfeits and prohibits the said book, its publication, its display, its sale and distribution and any kind of its use," it said.
Yesterday, a senior minister of the government said, "The book has been banned because it contains defamatory references regarding Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who is considered the architect of the modern India."
"Nobody in India would ever believe that Sardar Patel was even remotely responsible for the partition of the country," he said.
