Publisher of Jaswant's book says Guj govt's ban boosting sales

Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Jinnah might have led to his ouster from BJP but the book has been selling like hot cakes, bringing cheers to the publisher who said the Gujarat government's ban would only contribute to its robust sale.

"It (the ban) is complimentary because the sale was already good. Now, the Gujarat government has done a good job for us," RK Mehra, chairman of Rupa and Co, the publishers of the book, 'Jinnah: India, partition, independence', said.

He said they had only heard about this ban through media, adding "till today I have not seen the public notification of the Gujarat Government gazette. I can react to that only when I see the notification on what grounds it has been banned".

Contending that the book was selling extremely well across the country, he said, "we can't give you the exact number as it is a business secret, but the book shops are running out of stock".

"It is selling everywhere, it is selling very well in Pakistan and we have received orders from London, Bangladesh and Abu Dhabi. The subject of partition has been a subject of great interest anywhere in world," he said.

As far as India is concerned, it is an event which cannot be forgotten. There is a historical importance to that and since the controversy has come around, that obviously will arouse a lot of interest, he said.

Asked about the date of release of the book, he said, "I don't know what transpired between him and BJP, we gave him a date which was August 17, which is our 74th anniversary. He kindly agreed to that about a month back and everything was executed according to the plan".

Two years ago another book of his was released on August 17. He is one of our best selling authors and we try to give him the mileage, the publisher added.