New Delhi: The Mohan Yadav-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is facing criticism from unlikely quarters—Right-leaning intellectuals and organisers of Bhopal Literature & Art Festival who say they had to “sacrifice” one panel discussion for the other 60 odd sessions.
According to festival co-director Abhilash Khandekar, police officials told organisers to cancel the session on a new book on the Mughal emperor Babur, anticipating disturbance by VHP and Bajrang Dal workers.
Aabhas Maldahiyar, author of the book Babur: The Quest for Hindustan, was scheduled to address a session Saturday at the festival. In an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maldahiyar said his session was cancelled after a newspaper allegedly published “false and defamatory reports alleging that I intended to glorify Babur”.
Denying that his book glorified Babur, he said ‘unfounded’ claims led to ‘so-called’ Hindutva outfitsthreatening to burn copies of his book, and vandalise bookstores selling it.
“What is even more disturbing is that the Culture Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri 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 Culture Ministry of Madhya Pradesh, where literary works are being judged without being read,” Maldahiyar wrote in his letter to the Prime Minister.
He added that the response of Vikas Dave, director of Sahitya Akademi, Madhya Pradesh, was “equally troubling”. Dave, he claimed, “also criticized the book and the session without any familiarity with its contents.”
“It is deeply ironic that the head of a premier literary institution would pass judgment on a book without reading it,” Maldahiyar wrote.
Abhilash Khandekar, co-director of Bhopal Literature & Art Festival, said Maldahiyar had every right to be upset and termed opposition to the session ‘infringement on the author’s right of freedom and expression’.
“The book is not banned in any part of the country, nor in MP. There is no controversy about the book and hence the author’s post is justified. We had to take the decision to cancel the discussion session after the MP police visited us and told us to cancel the discussion as they had reports that the fest would be disturbed by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists. Considering we had planned 60 odd sessions in a span of three days we decided reluctantly to sacrifice one session for the rest,” Khandekar told ThePrint.
He added that apart from visiting the venue on 9 January, Madhya Pradesh police visited again the next day and asked organisers to pull down copies of the book on display on festival grounds. He also pointed out that the venue Bharat Bhawan belongs to the culture department which the Madhya Pradesh government has been providing to them for years.
ThePrint reached Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister Dharmendra Singh Lodhi via calls and text messages but did not receive any response.
‘Zombies in constant state of outrage’
Aabhas Maldahiyar received support from several quarters including author Vikram Sampath who termed the sequence of events “beyond bizarre”.
“To even imagine that @Aabhas24 or his works glorify the invaders (something the ideological opponents pillory him for not doing), is spectacular illiteracy of a different scale,” Sampath wrote on X.
Adding, “There are some zombies who are in a constant state of outrage…The book is lazily judged by the cover, or worse, it’s title. Sad you had to face this from an illiterate, hooligan bunch Aabhas!”
This is beyond bizarre. To even imagine that @Aabhas24 or his works glorify the invaders (somthing the ideological opponents pillory him for not doing), is spectacular illiteracy of a different scale. There are some zombies who are in a constant state of outrage- Aabhas's work on… https://t.co/6nHD3v2ShY
— Dr. Vikram Sampath, FRHistS (@vikramsampath) January 12, 2026
BJP national spokesperson Tuhin A. Sinha too criticised the Madhya Pradesh government for its handling of the issue. “Books should be criticised but only after thoroughly reading them and for the right reasons. Criticism borne out of ignorance and preconceived notions, is often self defeating,” Sinha wrote on X.
Author and RSS member Ratan Sharda asked whether those who forced organisers to cancel the session had actually read the book. “Have they read the Babur book? Do they know the research by the author who exposed Babur? How did the organizers name the session’s topic, what fault is it of the author? Even his books were picked up.”
In his post on X, Sharda added, “I have critically reviewed both the books. I believe, humbly, that I know a thing or two about Hindutva and RSS & History. I keep learning. Aabhas fought against Islamists, seculars with solid research.”
अत्यंत चिंताजनक और दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण.
People canceled you without reading your work, without talking with you. Will these champions rise above headlines and slogans?
We are with you @Aabhas24 https://t.co/24Zlw0Hnf8
— Ratan Sharda 🇮🇳 रतन शारदा (@RatanSharda55) January 12, 2026
Maldahiyar in a post on X explained that the proposed session was intended to discuss the so-called ‘Bhopal Wasiyatnama’, a 19th-century forgery “falsely presented as Babur’s will to portray him as tolerant towards Hindus”.
“By cancelling the session, these self-proclaimed guardians of the cause destroyed an opportunity to expose a major Marxist fabrication at the very place of its origin; Bhopal. Had they genuinely cared for historical truth, they would have challenged this forged document long ago,” he wrote.
He challenged those who objected to the session, including officials from the CMO, “to point out even a single page from my book where Babur is glorified”. Adding, “On the contrary, this work has previously been criticised by sections of the Left for being critical of Babur”.
माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi को यह खुला पत्र लिखने के लिए मैं विवश हुआ।
@bhopal_lit_fest 2026 में मेरी नई पुस्तक Babur: The Quest for Hindustan पर प्रस्तावित सत्र को उस समय रद्द कर दिया गया, जब समाचार पत्र स्वदेश ने मेरे विरुद्ध झूठी और मानहानिकारक खबरें प्रकाशित… pic.twitter.com/e2UXhajMW4
— Aabhas Maldahiyar 🇮🇳 (@Aabhas24) January 11, 2026
In his letter to Modi, Maldahiyar wrote: “I am not disheartened merely because my session could not take place; I have long been accustomed to criticism and hostility from the Left. What pains me is that those who claim to oppose Babur do not even recognize the scholars who are equipping them with intellectual tools for that very debate.”
Senior Advocate and author Sai Deepak J. too came out in support of Maldahiyar. “…this is the time to stand by him so that hardworking scholars like him who serve the cause of Dharma are not discouraged by people who should be supporting and encouraging them.”
To accuse @Aabhas24 of glorifying Babur, couldn't get any worse. This is the time to stand by him so that hardworking scholars like him who serve the cause of Dharma are not discouraged by people who should be supporting and encouraging them. https://t.co/4pK07j4zfi
— Sai Deepak J (@jsaideepak) January 12, 2026
Advocate and author Sanjay Dixit termed it a “sorry state of affairs” in the Madhya Pradesh BJP. “They invited me to speak on a topic that equated Sufism with Krishna bhakti (imagine). The anchor was clueless, and when I exposed Sufism, a person who was an appointee in BJP govt started shouting and created a scene,” he wrote on X.
Sorry state of @BJP4MP – I remember a similar event organised by a BJP person in Jaipur. They invited me to speak on a topic that equated Sufism with Krishna bhakti (imagine). The anchor was clueless, and when I exposed Sufism, a person who was an appointee in BJP govt started… https://t.co/6d0kClvSdf
— Sanjay Dixit ಸಂಜಯ್ ದೀಕ್ಷಿತ್ संजय दीक्षित (@Sanjay_Dixit) January 12, 2026
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)