In the wake of Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’ conjuring violent public outburst ,accusing him of blasphemy, one is forced to contemplate whether or not writer’s should be censured . The book which was banned in many countries sparked violence around the world. The government’s decision to ask Rushdie to refrain from attending the Jaipur Literary festival raised many eyebrows as to how can one rip a writer off his freedom-of-thought.Writing reflects the intellect of not only an individual but a society.It is rightly said writers are not important their writing is. A reader when reads a book relates to the book and not to the writer, similarly the writers don’t confront their audience directly the way musicians and singers do. Books by their very nature often offend and create outrage. Writings of a writer can influence the mind of society and if that is accepted, a change is wrought.
Even William Gaddis believed that books should have lives of their own and that writers could only diminish the autonomy and integrity of their work by inserting themselves between the reader and the writer.
If i were to decide i would never ban a book or even a writer for that matter, the youth of today is mature enough to bid stigmas of anti-anything a good bye
