In a violent reaction to the publication of a book, translated from the English original written by Gail Tredwell, a former resident of the Mata Amrithanandamayi Math in Kerala’s Kollam district, the outlet of the publishing house DC Books and the home of DC Books managing partner Ravi DeeCee here, came under attack on Monday evening.
The police said the miscreants tore up books and threatened the store employees. The incident came in the wake of a strident campaign against Ms. Tredwell’s book Holy Hell .
The miscreants stormed the DC Books Heritage Centre at 7 p.m., and also pelted stones at Mr. DeeCee’s home at Devalokam around 10 p.m. The attackers allegedly left behind at the bookshop a poster asking the publishers not to bring out books that attacked the Mata Amrithanandamayi Math.
Australia-born Tredwell is no longer in India, but a tell-all interview with her was telecast over two Malayalam TV channels recently, fuelling the controversy. The two TV channels have been served with lawyer’s notices, seemingly over defamation.
Progressive organisations of writers on Tuesday condemned the attacks.
The police registered a case.
