Shimla, Aug 20 - A day after being expelled from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jaswant Singh expressed shock at the Gujarat Government banning his book on Mohammed Ali Jinnah and likened this to the ban on 'The Satanic Verses' by Salman Rushdie.

Just before he left for New Delhi, Jaswant Singh expressed surprise over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's decision to ban his book in the state. 'The other example of this is 'Satanic Verses' by Salman Rushdie (which was banned). The day we start banning books, we ban thinking.'

Rushdie's book was banned in several countries, including India, in the wake of protests by Muslims.

Jaswant Singh, a former minister of defence, finance and external affairs, was expelled from the BJP Wednesday for his book, 'Jinnah -- India, Partition, Independence,' where he suggested that Pakistan's founder Jinnah had been unfairly demonised in India. The book was also mildly critical of the role played during India's partition by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country's first home minister.

The Gujarat government Wednesday banned the book stating that no views against Sardar Patel could be tolerated in his home state.

Jaswant Singh said he had researched the book, that was released Monday, for five years and did not regret one bit his decision to write it.