A later post today may actually revisit the "Tintin" discussion started by the New York Times yesterday but this caught my eye in my morning news round-up. So, my hat's off to the BBC, no writer given.

It appears a biography on the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, has been banned in the Indian state of Gujarat.

For the full BBC article, click here.

Now, I admit, this one doesn't come as all that much of a shocker to me, given the oh-so happy relationship between the two countries. A few wars and continued fighting in Kashmir are bound to make anybody a little testy.

Gujarat is the home of India's first home secretary, Vallabhbhai Patel, about whom the book makes "defamatory references," according to the state government. Patel is considered one of the key archiects of modern India.

My guess is, at least where the state of Gujarat is concerned, you actually can libel a dead person. That's not a principle we adhere to in the United States, but India is half a world away.

The author of the book, entitled Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence, Jaswant Singh, has already been expelled from his political party for remarks about the Muslim leader and has expressed sadness over the book furor.

Without having read Singh's book, I can't comment on whether the statements are actually over the line, but, being an American, I can't help but think, "So, what if they are?"

The India Times and I seem to be in agreement wondering what banning Singh's book says about free thought and free expression in one of the emerging powers of the 21st century.