Workers of Bajrang Dal outfit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) burnt an illustrated book outside a bookstore in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Saturday, alleging that it had an “objectionable depiction” of Lord Krishna.
On Saturday night, a dozen of Bajrang Dal workers entered the Latitude gift and book chain retail store located near Rajpath Club and picked up copies of the book, The Kamasutra, before burning them outside the shop.
“We received a complaint that a certain book depicting Hindu god Lord Krishna in an objectionable manner is being sold at a bookstore. We went to the shop and found that many objectionable pictures and comments depicting Lord Krishna and Radha were published in the book with illustrations by Utsav Bhattacharya,” Jwalit Mehta, President, North Gujarat Bajran Dal, told The Indian Express.
“As a mark of protest, we burnt the book outside the store. This is also a warning to bookstore owners in Ahmedabad that if they keep objectionable material that hurt Hindu sentiments, next time we will set fire to their shops,” he added.
Neither the Bajrang Dal nor the bookstore staff have approached the police regarding the matter so far.
A representative of the Latitude stores chain said, “We are aware of the protests that took place outside one of our retail stores in Ahmedabad. We have not lodged any complaint with the police. There are no more copies of the said book in our store now.”