COMMENT Book burning is the second most severe act of censorship; book banning is the severest.

The threat by several Indian NGOs to go on a nationwide road show that would have as its highlight the burning of the Malay novel ‘Interlok’ is a retrograde step that will stifle literary creativity, promote a herd mentality, and dry up the wellsprings of artistic endeavor.  

The NGOs say the novel defames Indian Malaysians and is not a suitable literary work for upper secondary school Malaysians to read and contemplate...