Lawyers representing Penguin Random House India flagged changes and deletions from “several chapters” of Sonia Gandhi’s upcoming book, The Indian Express has learnt. They prepared lists that were sent to the author in a “back-and-forth” lasting at least two months until the publishing deal fell through a few days ago, as first reported by The Indian Express.
Sources said that these deliberations were “cordial” at the outset but towards the end got “rough.”
While Alfred A Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House, is the global publisher of “Belonging,” PRHI was to publish and distribute it in India. The release, scheduled for November 10, was first announced by Knopf which added that the first print run for the title would be 100,000 copies.
Among the passages that were objected to, The Indian Express has learnt, were: references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his 12-year rule; the role of the RSS; references to instances of communal divide and riots and the plight of minorities.
Representing Sonia, the wife of one of Rajiv Gandhi’s aides and a family friend worked on the book. PRHI had a team of at least three editors, including consultants.
Sources said that the author’s side pushed back with two key arguments. One, that the PRHI lawyers were being “over-sensitive.” And, two, that the “numerous” edits and deletions, as suggested by them — including mention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or contemporary developments like the Indo-China stand-off in Galwan – would lead to an awkward situation of two versions of the book, the global edition at variance with the Indian edition. “Readers in India would have to compare the text of the title published globally to the one printed in India to know what all had been changed or censored,” said a source involved with the process.
While insiders are tight-lipped about the structure and contents of the memoirs, they say it’s the most definitive account of her life with a concluding section on her views on where Indian politics is headed.
PHRI did not reply to questions sent by The Indian Express on why the title was shelved and what changes/deletions were suggested.
In a statement Monday, however, it said there was no “external pressure whatsoever.” Claiming that it was “really keen on publishing as it was a hard-won acquisition,” PRHI said: “During our discussions with the author’s representatives, several points were raised and deliberated upon. On some, they agreed to changes and on others, we accepted the author’s position. Unfortunately, and ultimately, an understanding could not be reached on a particular issue. It was then that the author’s team informed us that they did not wish to proceed and we respected their decision. Since we are bound by an agreement, and author confidentiality is paramount to us, we will not divulge details of what led to the impasse.”
Ritu Sarin is Contributing Editor (Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More
