A book moves around an Italian woman Sonia Maino who became became president of the Indian Congress party after her husband Rajiv Gandhi`s brutal assassination.
Spanish author Javier Moro could published El Sari Rojo (Spanish Original) in India after Congress objected to its contents in 2010. Congress Lawyer Abhishek Singhvi (ICC Legal and Human Rights Cell) served a legal notice to Moro`s publisher and threatened to bring charge against him and Moro for publishing defamatory and false facts. Moro expreshed his anguish by saying,”I have discovered a facet that I did not know about the country, especially the Congress Party, which I thought was the tolerance party.”[Spanish: He descubierto una faceta que no conocÃa del paÃs, sobre todo del Partido del Congreso, que yo pensaba que era el partido de la tolerancia]
He claims that India is an “archaic country in many ways” and that discontent has arisen simply because writing about a leader, depicting her previous life, from her parents, from her school to “demystified” her. He claims that his intention was never to defame her and that he has not invented the story, which he defines as a “dramatized true story”. “The book remains very faithful to the historical facts. The leap has only been to invent the dialogues, but they did not come out of nowhere, there are years of research behind it,” he explains.
The book mentioned that Sonia wonders, after Rajiv’s assassination, whether she should return to Italy on her mother’s advice. It was reported that Singhvi said,”if Moro’s book is published in India in any language, the right to seek legal redressal will be exercised”. He also objected the facts pertain to Hindu priests refused to allow Sonia to be present at the cremation of Rajiv Gandhi.Â
Presently the book been translated into Italian, French , Dutch, and English.
Few facts from the Book:
Sonia Maino(date of birth 1946) was baptised by the Lusiana parish priest and given the name of Edvige Antonia Albina Maino.
Her father Stefano was part of Mussolini’s army that was defeated by the Russians and arrested. Stefano, who managed to escape together with other prisoners. Later he moved to Lusiana village of Orbassano. Her father’s activities after the end of WW II in Sicily was questionable.
Christian von Stieglitz introduced Antonio to Rajiv
In 1965, Sonia Maino, a 19-year-old Italian student, meets a young Indian named Rajiv Gan dhi in Cambridge.
