Joseph Lelyveld’s book ‘Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India’ received a strong condemnation from the Chief Minister and the Gandhi followers in Gujarat.
Shri Modi demanded a public apology from the author and the publisher of the book. “The writing is perverse in nature. It has hurt the sentiments of those with capacity for sane and logical thinking”, the Chief Minister said announcing the ban on the book.
On his blog, Shri Modi said, “Mahatma Gandhi’s life and work have always been analyzed. But recently a foreign author named Joseph Lelyveld has portrayed Mahatma Gandhi with abnormal and outrageous mentality in his book. I express my rebuke regarding the same”.
He said, “We take great pride and honor to have such legendary leaders of the Indian legacy and hence the depiction about Mahatma Gandhi made by Joseph Lelyveld deserves to be despised. We wish that the author and the publisher of the book accept their mistake and render a public apology. This shall not be tolerated under any circumstances. Government of Gujarat has already decided to completely ban the book.”
“I believe, considering the agitation of people in India, even the Central Government shall announce ban on the book with immediate effect”, he said.