Days after a session of author Aabhas Maldahiyar at the Bhopal Literature Festival (BLF) was cancelled due to allegations that it was glorifying Mughal ruler Babur, several right-wing ideologues have criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Madhya Pradesh Government while extending support to Mr. Mahdahiyar.
Mr. Maldahiyar was poised to attend 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. The session was, however, cancelled following criticism from local outfits and over fears of disruptions by groups.
BLF co-organiser Abhilash Khandekar told The Hindu that police teams had visited the venue on January 9 and 10, advising the organising body to cancel the session fearing that some fringe elements may disrupt the Fest.
“On January 10, some police personnel visited the venue again and asked us to even remove the book copies. They feared that some people may sneak in and ransack the place so we removed the books too,” Mr. Khandekar said.
On January 11, Mr. Maldahiyar also wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while accusing a Bhopal-based newspaper of publishing “false and defamatory articles” about the session and alleging that it “intended to glorify” the Mughal ruler. The author also denied that the book glorified Babur in anyway
“My scheduled session on my new book, Babur: The Quest for Hindustan, at the Bhopal Lit Fest 2026 was cancelled after the newspaper Swadeshpublished false and defamatory reports alleging that I intended to glorify Babur. These unfounded claims triggered threats from certain so-called Hindu organizations, including calls to burn my book and vandalize bookstore,” Mr. Maldahiyar said in an X post, sharing his letter and seeking an apology from the newspaper.
“What is even more disturbing is that the Culture Minister of Madhya Pradesh, 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. Equally troubling was the response of Shri Vikas Dave, Director, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Akademi, who 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,” he wrote.
Mr. Maldahiyar’s post found traction in the circles of right-wing intellectuals with several coming in his support and slamming the Madhya Pradesh Government. The critics involved 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 the invaders (something 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 Babar or mine on Tipu Sultan are misconstrued as glorifications and constantly criticized by a section of the “non-Left”, with ZERO understanding of strategic interventions or scholarship that documents these crimes. The book is lazily judged by the cover, or worse, it’s title,” Mr. Sampath said on X.
“Sad you had to face this from an illiterate, hooligan bunch Aabhas! As an earlier victim of numerous attacks from all sides, can only assure you that this makes one emerge stronger!” he added.
Swadesh group editor Atul Tare, however, denied the charges and said that the outlet’s objections were not with the author or the contents of his book.
“Aabhas is taking it to a wrong narrative. We are an ideological paper and our readers pointed it out that why a discussion was being held on Babur while a Ram Temple has already been built [in Ayodhya]. Even if the book highlights Babur’s wrongdoings, we need to move past him,” Mr. Tare said, speaking to The Hindu.
Mr. Tare also alleged that the BLF had been “taking up controversial issues” for years and also had questionable funding.
Meanwhile, Bhopal zone-3 DCP Abhinav Chowksey denied that the police was involved in the decision making and that officers only visited the venue after receiving calls.
“The police is not a party to this issue. Organisers decided everything at their own level. When we get any inputs or intelligence, we do inspection to see the arrangements. But no action was taken in the matter and no official communication was issued to the organisers,” he said.
Published – January 14, 2026 11:51 pm IST
