FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dr Farida Khanam is an author, editor, translator, public speaker and former professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Among her books are ‘A Simple Guide to Sufism’ and ‘A Study of World’s Major Religions’. She has translated into English many books authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently the chairperson of CPS International, she is a regular contributor of articles to various publications. Dr Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. She can be reached at hub@thespiritofislam.org HOW CAN YOU BAN AN IDEA? I N 2011, the public prosecutor of Tomsk, Russia, filed a case in a local court seeking a ban on Bhagvad Gita, As It Is, with purport by Swami Prabhupada. The prosecutor claimed the book to be “extremist literature” and it might foster social discord and discrimination in the country. This claim by the prosecutor is strange, to say the least. The first Russian translation of the Gita was published in Russia way back in 1788. It means that the Gita in Russian has been available for more than 200 years. During this long period, there has been no report to suggest the book ever created any problem anywhere in Russian society. Moreover, the prosecutor failed to refer to any new development that suggests the book could become a danger to Russia today. Even cursory reading of the book by someone will show that the Gita is a book of wisdom. Mahatma Gandhi always used to say that the Gita was his intellectual mother, and that he had derived his ideology of peace from it. And Mahatma Gandhi not only made this claim, but also gave a demonstration of its truth by running Indian politics and freedom movement on the principles of peace and non-violence. If some people disagree that the Gita is a book of peace, they have every right to. But in an age of freedom, every publisher also has the right to publish the Gita in any language. Then there is the question of an internationally-accepted principle— that all religious books are holy books and no court has the right to issue an order to ban them. It is beyond the jurisdiction of any court.