Has anyone here read Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus: An Alternative History" and can tell me why it's controversial enough to be censored? What do academic historians think of the book's contents (regardless of their thoughts on censorship)?

by Qixotic

So I heard that this book was banned (or ceased publication due to pressure) in India.

I assume most historians would be for free speech and discourse, so I'm not asking about the ban itself. Is the history presented in the book legit? What exactly in the book pissed people off?

CorporateMofo

Hindusim, as it's practiced today–as with much we think of "traditional" in India—was heavily influenced by British colonialism, both in terms of what the British thought it was and should be, and as a reaction of Indian intellectuals to what the British thought about it. Doniger points out the big, messy, and diverse nature of Hindusim. This contradicts modern orthodoxy.