By Siddhi Jain
New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANSlife): Following much controversy and even a publisher switch, the book 'Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story', was released virtually by publishing house Garuda Prakashan on Sunday.
As per the publisher, the book - which was dropped last minute by its previous publisher Bloomsbury India - had received over 15,000 pre-orders on its website www.garudabooks.com within 24 hours of the book's announcement.
The book is co-authored by Monika Arora, Sr. Supreme Court Lawyer, Sonali Chitalkar, Assistant Professor, Miranda House, Delhi University, and Prerna Malhotra, Author and Faculty at Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University. "Through its extensive research on-ground, following the communal riots in North East Delhi in February 2020, the book unearths the untold facts and stories behind the riots that perturbed the national capital earlier this year," the publisher said in a statement.
"From February 29, the fact-finding team of GIA, the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians, made multiple visits to North East Delhi to gather data in the form of extensive interviews with victims, residents of the affected areas and law enforcement personnel. The authors met with religious leaders from both communities who worked to de-escalate the situation. The book is the final product of the intense research and data gathering from the violence-affected areas of North East Delhi," it added.
After being "de-platformed" by Bloomsbury India over a virtual launch that listed BJP leader Kapil Mishra as the chief guests, the book found a new publisher overnight. According to Garuda, the book launch is "a step towards decolonisation and restoring agency to Indian voices".
The book was launched virtually on the Facebook and YouTube channel of the publishing house.
"The book 'Delhi Riots 2020', with meticulous on-ground reporting attempts to bring an alternative perspective to the tragic events in Delhi. It also shows how violence was pre-planned and false narratives were spread intending to drive a wedge between communities," said Sankrant Sanu, CEO, Garuda Prakashan.