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HVK Archives: Book on Ramakrishna kicks up a controversy

Book on Ramakrishna kicks up a controversy - The Sunday Times of India

Anita Katyal ()
6 April 1997

Title : Book on Ramakrishna kicks up a controversy
Author : Anita Katyal
Publication : The Sunday Times of India
Date : April 6, 1997

First, well-known historian Stanley Wolpert created ripples with
his recent book in which he referred to Jawaharlal Nehru's
"homosexual encounters" during his adolescence. And now, a
relatively lesser-known writer has created a storm with his book
which dwells at length on religious philosopher Ramakrishna
Paramahans' "homosexual impulses and practices".

The book Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Exotic Life and
Teachings written by Jeffrey J. Kripal and published by the
University of Chicago Press, is yet to bit the stands but its
reviews have elicited strong protests.

While newspapers carrying the review have been inundated with angry
letters, D.P. Bagehi, the additional secretary and financial
adviser in the commerce ministry, has written to the home ministry
asking for a ban on the book.

Senior home ministry officials, admitting to having received Mir
Bagchi's letter, said they had written to the Intelligence Bureau
and the West Bengal government asking for their comments and the
possible impact of the book on people's sensitivities.

The ministry, according to the officials, will give its verdict
after a thorough reading of the book and on the basis of the IB and
West Bengal government's assessment.

In the case of the Stanely Wolpert book, the ministry received no
letter asking for a ban. although newspapers and magazines had
written extensively on the book, particularly, the references to
Nehru's "sexual encounters". The book, according to bookshop
owners, has been a total sell-out.

Salman Rushdie's Satank Verses was banned when the government
"found merit in the reasons cites in a number of letters received
by the ministry". On the other hand, the same author's later book,
The Moor's Last Sigh was cleared for release by the Centre
following a thorough assessment, although the ministry did receive
several letters asking for a ban.

Mr Bagchi, in his letter to the ministry, said, "If this book is
allowed free circulation in India, passions will he inflamed which
may he difficult to control." He added that the home ministry had
rightly banned Salman Rushdie's Satank Verses and called for a ban
on this book on similar grounds.

In fact, Mr Bagehi further suggested that India take up this matter
with the U.S. government and ask it to impress upon the publishers
to disallow the publication of "such trash, totally devoid of a
sense of history". According to him, Sri Ramakrishna Is life and
teachings have been systematically chronicled but the author "has
deliberately mistranslated, misquoted and misrepresented the facts
to show that Sri Ramakrishna was a sexual pervert."



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