Maya bans Lakshmibai book

Book says the Rani of Jhansi had an affair with a British officer

LUCKNOW: Valentine’s Day in Uttar Pradesh (UP) saw a purportedly imaginary love story take a rather controversial twist. For, the central character involved in the alleged dalliances in the dark is no ordinary person but one of the brightest inspirations of India’s freedom struggle – Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. 

The controversy has begun over the book ‘Rani’ penned by London-based author Jaishree Misra and brought out by a publisher of international repute. The Mayawati government has banned the sale of the book in UP after Congress legislators created a din over the issue in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday.

“Banning the book in UP is not enough. We will take up the matter with the central government so that the sale of the book is stopped throughout the country,” said Congress legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari. He said an FIR had been lodged against the author in Jhansi. “The author has not only made baseless insinuations about Rani Lakshmibai but in fact made a mockery of the entire freedom struggle,” he said. 

The book carries references of a secret liaison between the Rani and Major Robert Ellis, an officer of the British Army posted in Jhansi. The author talks of Major Ellis’ “unfulfilled love” and describes in detail episodes of their secret meetings at night. 

Congress MLA from Jhansi Pradeep Jain pointed out to this correspondent that the author had also written about “a massacre of innocent British women and children at Jhansi Fort”. An enraged Jain said, “How can the government allow this sort of falsehood to be propagated?”

g_deepak@dnaindia.net