Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle with India, a book by the Pulitzer Prize winning author Joseph Lelyveld, has been banned in the Indian state of Gujrat. The book is seen as being controversial as some passages can be interpreted as hinting that Gandhi had a homosexual relationship. The Indian Law Minister, Veerappa Moily, has also recently indicated that the government might introduce a country-wide ban on the book.
The 11th annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards, sponsored by SAGE, were presented tonight (24 March) at a ceremony in London hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby
Last week the Indian government ordered telecom operators to suspend all mobile messaging services that cannot be monitored by law enforcement agencies, citing national security reasons. The government had given Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry’s Canadian manufacturer, until 31 January to provide it with access to encrypted data on BlackBerry Enterprise Server. RIM says it is unable to do so as it does not hold the keys to the encrypted data. Last year RIM had provided the government with the ability to monitor some of its other services including BlackBerry Messenger and email.
Obscenity laws, religion and self-censorship continue to blight India’s cultural scene. Leo Mirani reports
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