Thaindian News

Ahmedabad, Aug 20 (IBNS) After being expelled from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), senior politician Jaswant Singh faced a double blow Thursday when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi banned his controversial book titled ‘Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence’ across the state.

“The Home Department has issued a notification putting a ban on sale of Jaswant Singh’s book Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence in the state with immediate effect,” an official in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) official said in Ahmedabad.

“The book has been banned as it has certain references on Sardar Patel which defame his image. The book praises Pakistan’s founder MA Jinnah and accuses first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Patel of being responsible for the Partition of the country,” he said.

The official further said that the defaming of Patel ‘hurts’ the ‘pride of Gujarat’ because he is an icon in the state.

As per media reports, other BJP-ruled states are also contemplating on banning Singh’s book.

Singh, who is the party MP from Darjeeling, was sacked on Wednesday at the party’s chintan baithak being held in Shimla.

Addressing media, Sinha said he has been sacked from the primary membership of the party because of his book on Jinnah. However, he does not regret writing it.

“It pains me that I have been sacked for writing a book. I have not committed any sin by writing the book. I don’t regret writing on Jinnah… five years of labour has gone into this. Reading, writing and publishing is entering a dark alley.

“I don’t know if my sacking is part of the succession battle in BJP. I can understand if Congress attacks me, but why BJP. It’s a matter of regret that I have been sacked for writing a book,” the former External Affairs Minister said.