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Why Won’t India Let E-Magazine Pink Pages Launch In Print?

Even though India is the world’s largest democracy, apparently you must still register any publication you intend on disseminating to the public. So that’s what Pink Pages, the online LGBT magazine there, did when it wanted to launch a printed version of itself. Except the Registrar of Newspapers in India had other plans: No, you can’t do it.

“The worst part is that no reason was given for rejecting the application,” says Harish Iyer, a Mumbai-based columnist for the magazine, which published e-issues each month. “The least we deserved was an explanation. We have been following up with the authorities for months now.”

Launched in July 2009, Pink Pages first encountered trouble in October, when RNI denied its application to print, reports Mid-Day. Editor-in-chief Udayan Dhar says “we have a team of legal experts ready to fight for our rights,” noting that while other LGBT-interest magazines (with names like Fun and Fantasy) did have their applications approved, many did so without registering specifically under the queer category, which is what appears to have snagged Pink Pages.

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