SRINAGAR, AUG 5 (KDC): The Jammu and Kashmir LG led administration has declared the forfeiture of 25 books for allegedly promoting secessionism, radicalization, and glorification of terrorism, citing the new Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.
The action, issued through Statutory Order No. 203, invokes Section 98 of the BNS, allowing the government to forfeit publications deemed harmful to the sovereignty and integrity of India. The order states that credible investigations and intelligence inputs have revealed that systematic circulation of certain literature has been a significant driver behind youth radicalization and involvement in violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the notification, the banned books—some authored by reputed scholars and published by leading global and Indian academic publishers—have contributed to distorting historical facts, glorifying terrorism, vilifying security forces, and fostering religious radicalization and separatist ideologies. These materials, the order claims, create a “culture of grievance, victimhood, and terrorist heroism”, deeply impacting the psyche of the youth.
The government emphasized that the literature in question often appears as historical or political commentary, but in reality plays a subversive role by “inciting violence and glorifying secessionist causes.”
The banned titles, according to Srinagar absed news agency KDC include Human Rights Violations in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska (Routledge/Manohar), Kashmiri’s Fight for Freedom by Mohd Yosuf Saraf (Feroze Sons, Pakistan), Colonizing Kashmir by Hafsa Kanjwal, Kashmir Politics and Plebiscite by Dr. Abdul Jabbar (Gulshan Books Kashmir), Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? by Essar Batool and others (Zubaan Books), Mujahid ki Azaan edited by Maulan Mohammad Enayatullah Subhani (Markazi Maktaba Islami Publishers, Delhi), Al Jihadul fil Islam by Moulana Moududi (Darul Musannifeen, Delhi), Independent Kashmir by Christopher Snedden (Manchester University Press/Sanctum Books, Delhi), Resisting Occupation in Kashmir by Haley Duschinski, Ather Zia, Mona Bhan, and Cynthia Mahmood (University of Pennsylvania Press), Between Democracy and Nation: Gender and Militarization in Kashmir by Seema Kazi (Oxford University Press), Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose, In Search of a Future: The Story of Kashmir by David Devadas, Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, The Kashmir Dispute (1947–2012) by A.G. Noorani, Kashmir at the Crossroads by Sumantra Bose, A Dismantled State by Anuradha Bhasin (Harper Collins India), Resisting Disappearance by Ather Zia (Zubaan Books), Confronting Terrorism edited by Maroof Raza and Stephen Cohen (Penguin India), Freedom in Captivity by Radhika Gupta (Cambridge University Press), Kashmir: The Case for Freedom by Tariq Ali, Hilal Bhatt, Angana P. Chatterji, Pankaj Mishra, and Arundhati Roy (Verso Books), Azadi by Arundhati Roy (Penguin India), USA and Kashmir by Dr. Shamshad Shan (Gulshan Books), Law & Conflict Resolution in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska (Routledge/Manohar), Tarikh-i-Siyasat Kashmir by Dr. Afaq (Karwan-e-Tahqiq-o-Saqafat Kashmir), and Kashmir & the Future of South Asia edited by Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal (Routledge/Manohar).
The government cited sections 152, 196, and 197 of the BNS, which pertain to acts endangering sovereignty, promoting enmity, and inciting violence. Authorities stated that the forfeited books were found to “excite secessionism” and threaten national integrity.
The Lieutenant Governor’s office, in issuing the order, said that the action was part of a larger strategy to curb the spread of radical ideologies, especially among the youth, and that further reviews of educational and political content are underway. (KDC)
