The Congress�s censorship goes on. After objecting to certain parts of Prakash Jha�s movie Rajneeti, the party is now up in arms against Madrid-based writer Javier Moro�s novel based on its president Sonia Gandhi�s life.
The Spanish book is called El Sari Rojo (The Red Sari, subtitled When Life is the Price of Power), a reference to the red sari Sonia wore on her wedding day, �one that Nehru wove while he was in jail�.
First published in October 2008, the book has already been translated into Italian, French and Dutch, and an English translation by Peter Hearn is ready for publication.
And the trouble has begun for The Red Sari.
In an email, Moro, 55, said that Sonia�s lawyers, including Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, �have just written to my Italian and Spanish publishers to demand the withdrawal of the book from the stores. Nobody understands very well why, but that�s what they are up to�.
Moro thinks that the Congress leaders �did not like the recreation of her life in Italy as told in my book�.
Singhvi, who said he was handling the legal matter for Sonia and who affirmed that Sonia was aware of the issue, said: �It is time Moro stopped distorting facts and misrepresenting details. He knows well that both he and his publishers have been sent legal notices informing them that the published work is completely unauthorised, defamatory and salacious.�