Book on Shivaji to be banned

Nearly a fortnight after a mob calling itself the Sambhaji Brigade vandalised a research institute in Pune, the Maharashtra government has decided to ban the controversial book Shivaji: The Hindu King in Islamic India by American historian James W Laine.

The government is in the process of issuing an order to ban the book after the Brigade destroyed valuable manuscripts and books at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) for certain 'insulting' remarks on Jijabai, the mother of Maratha ruler Shivaji.

More than 70 people have been arrested in Pune.

The Brigade's spokesman Shrikant Kokate has threatened more attacks, demanding legal action against Laine and the Oxford University Press, the publishers of the book. The book was written with help from scholars from BORI.

There has been a severe attack from prominent members of the public on the ban on the book as well as against the Brigade for provoking the mob to destroy valuable pieces of history.