March 13, 2014: Days after Penguin India agreed to pulp Wendy Doniger’s book The Hindus to settle a court dispute with Dina Nath Batra of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, another major publishing house Aleph Book Company on Monday said they will not reprint Doniger’s book On Hinduism until an “acceptable resolution” is found.

Batra had sent a legal notice to Aleph Book Company on March 3, 2014 alleging that there were several objectionable passages in Doniger’s book that offended the sensitivities of the Hindu community. He also warned that unless the book is withdrawn by March 10, 2014, he would take legal action and also launch an agitation for the same.

In a statement by R K Mehra, chairman Aleph Book Company has said that they have replied to Batra saying they had taken note of his concern and informed him that the book is currently out of stock.

“…we have stated that the book is now out of stock with us and will only be reprinted after the objections are examined by our lawyers and four independent writers and scholars so we are able to properly assess them and determine how best to resolve the situation,” Mehra’s statement says. Mehra has also added that the author, Wendy Doniger, “concurs with our proposed course of action”.

“The book which is out of stock with us shall not be reissued until the concerns are addressed for an acceptable resolution of the whole matter,”Mehra has written to Batra in a letter Monday.
Mehra has added that the book was published and printed in January-February 2013 and has not been in print for quite some time.