Wendy Doniger's 'The Hindus': Penguin India withdraws book

The recall of US author Wendy Doniger's book on Hinduism by publisher Penguin Books has been received with much outrage. And although the official decision to withdraw the book tilted 'The Hindus: An Alternative History' was made on February 4, Twitter has been overflowing with strong criticism, thus making the book title a trending topic on the micro-blogging website.

The reaction from critics resulted in publishing house Penguin Books recalling the book and discontinuing the sale of more copies. The reason given for this is that the book, which focuses on different aspects of Hinduism, is filled with alleged inaccuracies and bias es as well as various sexual connotations.

The Hindus was a No 1 best-seller in the non-fiction category in India in 2009. In January 2010, the National Book Critics Circle named The Hindus as a finalist for its 2009 book awards.

Doniger's book was published in 2009, and from early on, there was a lot of criticism and opposition , especially from the American Hindu community. Doniger, during the time, agreed that Indians have ample grounds to reject post-colonial domination, but she also says that her works are her own perspective which does not diminish the fact that Indians are allowed to have their own self-identity.

In March 2010, Hindu American Foundation co-founder Aseem Shukla debated various elements from the book with Doniger herself on aWashington Post-sponsored blog. They discussed at length on faith and religion, and he accused her of sexualising and defaming some of the holiest passages in the Hindu scriptures. Doniger retaliated by pointing out that her book has sold well in India, a country populated by Hindus and also asked her critics to point out exactly where her interpretations of the text were wrong.