Parents and children in east of India still willing to buy and read books: Survey
Children’s books are selling like hot cakes at the International Kolkata Book Fair at Boimela Prangan in Salt Lake.
As the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election 2017 enters the last phase, a new book- In Search of Ram Rajya: A Journey Through UP Politics by journalist Manjula Lal explores the political culture of the most populous state in the country.
UP's electorate is often portrayed by the media as caste-ridden and communal. However, the book counters this negative image, saying that this is a crude caricaturisation, and the same set of factors can be found in other states.
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In a controversial chapter, the author tries to establish that it could not have been Babur who ordered the building of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, which was demolished by a Hindu mob on 6 December 2016.
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Coming 25 years after that traumatic event, the book points out that the main litigant in the Ram Janmabhoomi/Babri Masjid case Hashim Ansari has died. So has Ashok Singhal, leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
According to the author, the time has come to reject leaders who use elections as a stepping stone to greater power and glory in the 'Delhi Durbar'. Its politicians must be committed to UP, as the youth has great aspirations and the state is poised to break out of the shackles of underdevelopment.
The book devotes a chapter each to the BJP, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress, chronicling the rise and fall of these parties since independence. It also devotes a chapter to gender issues, which are still being brushed under the carpet by all parties.
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