The Rediff Special

Nehru's biography in bad taste, says govt

The Union government has deplored the reported remarks of historian Stanley Wolpert against Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, but said any decision on banning the book would be taken only after examining the work in totality.

The book, Nehru: A Tryst With Destiny, published by Oxford University Press, New York, is slated to be released in February. In the book, Wolpert has stated that Nehru had had several homosexual encounters during his childhood in Allahabad, and college days in Harrow and Cambridge.

"It is in bad taste, and it is all false. Nehru has been extensively researched about. I do not want to comment more at this stage. We will look into the entire work and decide what action, including whether it needs to be banned in the country, should be taken," said B P Singh, secretary, culture, in the Government of India.

Professor Ravindra Kumar, director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, said: "These insinuations are absolute nonsense and absurd. I will base my final reaction after reading the book when it comes out in India, but to the best of my knowledge, there has been no such whisper," he said.

According to Dr Kumar, in Indian universities, men were segregated from women at that time, and as a result close friendships (among men) developed. "If such friendships are transplanted overseas, they may lead to different culture-based interpretations," he said.

However, OUP India, which proposes to distribute the book here, held that a historian of Wolpert's reputation would not be making such remarks unless he was sure of their historical authenticity. "Wolpert must have taken care to balance the allegations in the historical context," said Manzar Khan, managing director, OUP India.

Khan was confident that the book would not be banned. However, he said OUP would wait for the reaction to the book from the public after it is released before deciding its future course of action.

Courtesy: The Pioneer