The legendary Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s advice is in order here. In 2003, the Maharashtra state government had banned a book on Shivaji Maharaj by American academic James Laine after protests by Maratha groups. Prime Minister Vajpayee, who had been invited to unveil Shivaji’s statue at Mumbai airport, told the audience that he ‘could understand criticism of books but not ban or boycott … If you want to make a line appear short, do not erase it but draw a longer one beside it,’ he said, with none other than Balasaheb Thackeray sitting on the dais.
