Banned : Controversial literature and political control in British India, 1907-1947

Although the issues and details relate to one region, the shifting rationale for interfering with printed opinion and the mechanisms developed for exercising control have universal implication. Research in this subject by the author led to a vast extent of banned works by the British in India.

Much has been written about the evolution of publisher''s freedom in countries such as UK, USA or Nazi Germany. For instance, in Britain by the nineteenth century, law and public opinion created an atmosphere conducive to virtually free exchange of opinion and news. But this same press liberty was not extended to its colonies. Historians usually begin their studies in the late 1700 ad and conclude with a short sketch on post-1900 developments. Lack of analysis of the latter period is particularly disturbing because the confrontation the ruler (the Raj) and the ruled after 1900 brought into focus the conflict between cherished British ideological traditions and the demands of control over a non-Western population. Censorship, banning, and other varieties of official interference with freedom of the Press also constitute key but little known elements in India’s struggle?for?Independence.

This book which examines the Government–Press interaction during 1907-1947 is intended primarily as a contribution to our understanding of political developments within the British Empire in India. Although the issues and details relate to one region, the shifting rationale for interfering with printed opinion and the mechanisms developed for exercising control have universal implication. Research in this subject by the author led to a vast extent of banned works by the British in India, mystifying references in Govt. of India Home proceedings to proscription and banning. The extent of banned material is startling. The author handlisted the surviving material and then pieced together why and how works were seized. This volume has served for long as an invaluable resource for historians and research scholars?of?colonial?South?Asia.