Authoritarian Crackdown on Knowledge
Indian police raided bookshops across Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on August 7, confiscating literature under a sweeping ban targeting 25 scholarly works. The order, issued directly by New Delhi-appointed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, declared books by Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, constitutional expert A.G. Noorani, and historians like Sumantra Bose "forfeited" for allegedly "exciting secessionism." Authorities justified the move by claiming the books "distort historical facts" and "promote terrorist heroism"; charges authors vehemently reject.
Scholarly Works Silenced
The banned titles, all examining Kashmir’s political history include Roy’s Azadi (critiquing human rights abuses), Noorani’s The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 (documenting legal history), and academic texts like Colonizing Kashmir: State-Building Under Indian Occupation. Also blacklisted were Islamic texts and works documenting women’s resistance to military violence. Police seized not only banned books but also generic Islamic literature during raids, extending a February campaign targeting "anti-India" material. Anuradha Bhasin, author of the banned A Dismantled State, challenged authorities: "Prove a single word glorifies terrorism".
Kashmiri Voices Condemn "Memory Erasure"
Chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the ban as revealing the "insecurities and limited understanding of authoritarian minds," stressing that "historical facts and lived memories cannot be erased by force". Historian Siddiq Wahid noted the irony of banning works by institutions "whose reputations depend on evidence and logic," asking: "Does constitutional free speech count for anything anymore?". Scholar Angana Chatterji warned the ban "criminalizes scholarship to silence Kashmir’s pain and resistance".
Political Symbolism and Shrinking Autonomy
The ban’s timing, issued on August 5, marking six years since India revoked Kashmir’s autonomy signals New Delhi’s tightening grip. Despite November’s elections installing a local government, real power remains with Sinha, Modi’s appointee. The move aligns with India’s broader suppression of dissent since 2019, including internet blackouts, journalist arrests, and previous book seizures. As London School of Economics professor Sumantra Bose (whose two books were banned) asserted, his work solely seeks "pathways to peace", a goal India’s censorship undermines.