MSF bans book for 'vulgar portrayal'
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 26 2017:
The Manipuri Students' Federation (MSF) has banned the book titled The Writers Mahabharatta & Rammayana as the Real Religious Scientists written by Omor Singh Wangkhem with immediate effect, while the International Sanamahism Students' Association (ISSA), Kangleipak has demanded clarification from the author and the printer of the book .
During a press meet, Oinam Premsagar, vice president of the MSF announced the ban on the book and appealed to the public to refrain from selling and buying this book.
He stated the book is highly unfavourable to the local environment and contains foul language .
While referring to a sentence on page 13 of the book that read as: 'In Meitei legendary story, a Meitei woman who is a prostitute may be a goddesses (sic),' Premsagar said it is derogatory on religious and social grounds and without any cited source, the entire book is unreliable as much as it is baseless.
The vice president also pointed out that there are more instances of unfounded statements and the book is riddled with grammatical errors.
He appealed again that book stores should stop selling this book .
Meanwhile, in a statement released by the International Sanamahism Students' Association (ISSA), Kangleipak, general secretary Lourembam Kangleinganba mentioned particularly pages 13 and 27 in the book in which Meitei goddesses are compared with prostitutes.
On page 27, it is mentioned: …[T]he women prostitutes of Manipur become goddesses who are the example of Meitei puyas (sic).' The general secretary also lamented the distasteful language used in the book apart from the sheer disregard for the sacred Meitei cosmology.
He alleged that the author must be an agent sponsored by those who want to cause unrest in the society and destroy the social harmony.
L Kangleinganba further stated that no book store must sell this book and the printer, Kangla Printers located on Governor Road, must issue a clarification as well as disclose the full identity of the author.
For now, only his name and home address, as belonging to Keishamthong Longjam Leikai, are mentioned in the front matter of the book .
The general secretary asserted that the author must also publish a clarification, while adding ISSA takes the matter gravely.