India News | Suit Filed in Delhi Court Against Publication, Sale of Salman Khurshid's Book

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) An injunction suit has been filed before a Delhi court seeking to stop the publication, circulation, and sale of ex-Union minister Salman Khurshid's book for allegedly hurting the sentiments of a large section of society, the lawyer of the complainant said on Saturday.

The suit was filed by right-wing group Hindu Sena's president Vishnu Gupta.

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Senior Congress leader Khurshid has sparked controversy by reportedly comparing a "robust version" of Hindutva to the jihadist Islam of terror groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram in his book 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times'.

Gupta's counsel Akshay Aggarwal and Sushant Prakash claimed that the book's launch event before the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, slated for early next year, was aimed at polarising and gaining the votes of the minorities.

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The petition seeks prohibitory injunction against the publication, distribution, circulation and sale of the book and also ban it "in the larger interest of the society and country".

The Hindu Sena on Friday demanded a ban on the book, alleging that Khurshid's statement harms social integrity and hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta said the comparison made in the book is an attempt to demonise the Hindu religion.

Khurshid's comments in his book have sparked a row with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday maintained that Hinduism and Hindutva are "different things" and slammed the ideology of the BJP-RSS alleging it has spread hatred in India, drawing a sharp retort from the BJP which claimed that the Congress leadership nurses a "pathological hatred" for Hinduism.

Khurshid, who stood by his remarks made in his new book on the Ayodhya verdict, had come under attack on Thursday from the BJP as well as his party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)