AHMEDABAD: What began as a quiet two-hour reading session in a Vastrapur municipal garden on Thursday evening snowballed into a confrontation, with allegations of vandalism and injuries after a group of 8-10 VHP members allegedly disrupted the gathering.Around 70 people had assembled near the district education office (DEO) for a silent reading to protest a Shilaj school’s decision to drop Malala Yousafzai’s ‘I Am Malala’ and Anne Frank’s ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ from its reading list following an uproar from parents and right-wing activists.The gathering was deliberately low-key. There were no speeches or loud slogans.Participants simply sat with books, with the silent format intended to make passers-by curious about the gathering. But around 6.30pm, the reading session allegedly turned into a confrontation when 8-10 VHP members arrived.Participants alleged that members of the group confronted them and that 8-10 silent protestors were injured. Police said they were establishing the identities and affiliations of those involved in the alleged vandalism and were also verifying the nature of the injuries. An FIR had not been filed till late Thursday.What gave the evening a larger dimension, however, was not just the confrontation but the books participants had chosen to read.Alongside their protest against the removal of I Am Malala and The Diary of a Young Girl, participants read Why I Am An Atheist, 1984, Bhima Koregaon: Our War Cry, There’s Gunpowder in the Air and The Meat of the Matter: How Politics of Food Shapes Our Health.The choice of books underscored what participants said was a larger issue than the removal of two titles from a school reading list — the role of education in encouraging critical thinking and allowing students to encounter different ideas and perspectives.Jay Thakkar, who attended the protest, said, “I am concerned about children’s education and critical thinking that should prevail in education. Protest can take many forms. This is a call for all those people who are not okay with the banning of the books.”The issue also resonated with students who attended the reading. Satya Oza said everyone should have the right to read what they want. “Malala’s is a story of grit and a girl’s wish to get educated. Inspiration can come from all directions, and it should not be judged based on religion or nationality,” she said.Police said the gathering was allegedly vandalised by a right-wing group. Inspector G M Chaudhary of Vastrapur police said officers were verifying the identities and affiliations of the people who confronted the participants and were also checking the medical reports of those who claimed to have been injured.“We will register an FIR after verifying the claims of the group that had gathered for the reading of the books,” Chaudhary said.The other side of the dispute maintained that the objection was specifically to Malala. Jwalit Mehta, regional coordinator, Bajrang Dal, Gujarat, said in a video byte that “members of the outfit do not want students of India to read a book written by someone with anti-India views, like Malala”.
