Censorship in South Asia

Censorship in South Asia can apply to books, movies the Internet and other media. Censorship occurs on religious, moral and political grounds, which is controversial in itself as the latter especially is seen as contrary to the tenets of democracy, in terms of freedom of speech and the right to freely criticise the government.

Bangladesh

Several books of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin have been banned in Bangladesh and West Bengal [1].

India

Several books critical of Islam have been banned in India or in parts of India. India was the first country in the world to ban the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. The book Understanding Islam through Hadits by Ram Swarup was also banned.

There have also been claims that the history of the Islamic invasion of India is being systematically whitewashed and censored in Indian school-books and in other media (e.g. Shourie 1998).

Pakistan

The Pakistani government has banned the import of Indian films, leaving piracy as the only way to distribute them.

Literature

• Goel, Sita Ram. The Calcutta Quran Petition. [2]
• Elst, Koenraad. Negationism in India: Concealing the record of Islam. [3]
• Shourie, Arun: Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud. New Delhi, 1998.

External links

India

• Book banning in India
• Arun Shourie on "Eminent historians"

See also

• Censorship
• Banned books
• Banned films
• Salman Rushdie
• Media bias in South Asia
• International Freedom of Expression Exchange