JAMMU AND KASHMIR BANS 25 BOOKS FOR ‘RADICALISING YOUTH, GLORIFYING TERRORISM’

Fri 08 August 2025:

The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the publication and circulation of 25 books, including works by prominent authors such as Maulana Maududi, Arundhati Roy, A.G. Noorani, Victoria Schofield, and David Devadas. The books have been deemed by the authorities as promoting “false narratives” and “glorifying terrorism,” posing a threat to national sovereignty and integrity.

In an order issued by the Home Department on August 6, the government stated that certain literature circulating in Jammu and Kashmir propagates secessionist ideologies and incites violence. The order, invoking Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, emphasized that credible intelligence and investigative findings suggest that the dissemination of such material has played a “critical role” in radicalising the region’s youth.

According to the government, the banned books allegedly mislead the public by distorting historical facts, glorifying terrorists, vilifying security forces, and promoting religious radicalisation and alienation. The literature, it said, fosters a “culture of grievance, victimhood, and terrorist heroism,” thus influencing the youth towards extremism.

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“These books and publications have been systematically used to excite secessionism and endanger the sovereignty and integrity of India,” the order stated, citing Sections 152, 196, and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as applicable legal grounds for the ban. The government has now declared all existing copies of the listed works to be forfeited.

Among the banned titles are Azadi and Kashmir: The Case for Freedom by Arundhati Roy, The Kashmir Dispute: 1947–2012 by AG Noorani, Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, In Search of a Future by David Devadas, Colonizing Kashmir by Hafsa Kanjwal, and Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose. Religious and political texts, including Al Jihad Fil Islam by Maulana Abul A’la Maududi and Mujahid ki Azan by Imam Hasan Al-Banna, are also on the list.

Scholarly works by academics and human rights advocates such as Resisting Disappearance by Ather Zia, Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? by Essar Batool, and Law & Conflict Resolution in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz have also been proscribed.

The move has sparked concerns about censorship and the narrowing of academic and political discourse in the region. — With Agencies Inputs