Days after author Aabhas Maldahiyar’s session at the Bhopal Literary Festival (BLF) was canceled over allegations that it glorified the Mughal ruler Babur, several right-wing ideologues criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Madhya Pradesh government while extending support to Mr. Mahdahiyar.
Mr. Maldahiyar was all set to participate in an interactive session on his recent book ‘Babur: The Quest for Hindustan’ on January 10 on the second day of BLF at Bhopal’s Bharat Bhavan. However, the session was canceled due to criticism from local organizations and concerns about disruption from the groups.
BLF co-organizer Abhilash Khandekar told The Hindu that police teams visited the venue on January 9 and 10 and advised the organizing body to cancel the session, fearing that some fringe elements may disrupt the Fest.
“On January 10, some police officers visited the place again and asked us to even remove the copies of the books. They were worried that some people might sneak in and ransack the place, so we removed the books as well,” Mr Khandekar said.
On 11 January, Mr Maldahiyar also wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the Bhopal newspaper of publishing “false and defamatory articles” about the session and of claiming that it “intended to glorify” the Mughal ruler. The author also denied that the book glorified Babur in any way
“My scheduled meeting on my new book Babur: The Quest for Hindustan at the Bhopal Lit Fest 2026 was canceled after the Swadesh newspaper published false and defamatory reports that I intended to glorify Babur. These baseless claims prompted threats from certain so-called Hindu organizations, including calls to burn my book and share Xhiar’s mail in his vandalism. The newspaper is asking for an apology.
“More disturbingly, Madhya Pradesh’s Culture Minister, Dharmendra Singh Lodhi, publicly condemned the session without reading even a single page of the book. This raises serious concerns about the functioning and intellectual integrity of the Madhya Pradesh Ministry of Culture, where literary works are judged without being read. Equally disturbing was the response of Shriahyahyika Madhyadesha, Daveaha Pradesh’s criticizing the book and the session without acquainted with its contents, it is deeply ironic that the head of a leading literary institution would pass judgment on a book without reading it,” he wrote.
Mr. Maldahiyar’s post found attention in right-wing intellectual circles, with several of them supporting him and criticizing the Madhya Pradesh government. Critics included authors Ratan Sharda and Shaifali Vaidya, advocate J. Sai Deepak and historian Vikram Sampath.
“This is beyond bizarre. To even imagine that Aabhas or his works glorify invaders (something he is pilloried by ideological opponents for not doing) is spectacular illiteracy of another scale. There are some zombies who are in constant indignation – Aabhas’s work on Babar or mine on Tipu Sultan are mistaken for a criticized section of the non-Left with ZERO-Left glorification of strategic. intervention or scholarship that documents these crimes, a book is lazily judged by its cover, or worse, by its title,” Mr. Sampath said at X.
“It’s sad that you had to face this from an illiterate, hooligan bunch of Aabhas! As a former victim of numerous attacks from all sides, I can only assure you that one will come out stronger!” he added.
However, Swadesh group editor Atul Tare denied the allegations and said the daily’s objections were not against the author or the content of his book.
“Aabhas is introducing a wrong narrative. We are an ideological paper and our readers have pointed out that why there was a discussion about Babur when the ram temple was already built (in Ayodhya). While the book highlights Babur’s wrongdoings, we have to get over it,” Mr. Tare told The Hindu.
Mr Tare also claimed the BLF had “dealt with controversial issues” for years and also had questionable funding.
Meanwhile, Bhopal Zone-3 DCP Abhinav Chowksey denied that the police were involved in the decision-making and that the officers visited the spot only after receiving phone calls.
“The police is not a party to this issue. The organizers have decided everything at their own level. When we get any leads or intelligence, we will check to see action. But no action has been taken in this matter and no official communication has been issued to the organizers,” he said.
Published – 14 Jan 2026 23:51 IST
