Kashmir police hunt books banned by new order for promoting "secessionism"

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have carried out raids on bookshops after authorities earlier this week banned 25 titles, including works by award-winning author Arundhati Roy, accusing them of spreading “false narratives” and “secessionism” in the disputed Muslim-majority region.

According to reporting by Al Jazeera, officers also searched roadside book vendors and other outlets on August 7, selling printed publications in Srinagar and other parts of the territory to confiscate the prohibited material, police said.

“The operation targeted content that promotes secessionist ideologies or glorifies terrorism,” Indian police stated on social media. “We urge public cooperation to maintain peace and integrity.”

The raids followed the government’s allegation that certain authors were pushing misleading accounts of Kashmir and “playing a key role in misguiding the youth” against the Indian state.

Works by authors like constitutional expert AG Noorani and noted academicians and historians like Sumantra Bose, Christopher Snedden and Victoria Schofield have fallen victim to the order.

Authorities on the same day also removed Islamic literature from shops and private homes under a similar order issued in February.

Since 2019, the Indian government has tightened restrictions on dissent in Kashmir, cracking down on any narrative that challenges New Delhi’s claim over the region, which has been disputed by the Muslim-majority since India and Pakistan gained independence from British rule in 1947.

The ban warns of prison terms for anyone selling or possessing works deemed “forfeit” under India’s new 2023 criminal code, effectively outlawing the 25 books from being circulated, owned, or accessed anywhere in the Himalayan territory.

By Nazrin Sadigova