CDRO condemns the banning of several books on Kashmir

By Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)

The Jammu & Kashmir Home Department has banned the publication of 25 books on Kashmir, including those by notable authors such as Arundhati Roy, Sumantra Bose and A G Noorani. A notification issued by the Principal Secretary of the Home Department, Chandraker Bharti, by order of Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha, said: “…it has come to the notice of the Government, that certain literature propagates false narrative and secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir… This literature would deeply impact the psyche of youth by promoting (a) culture of grievance, victimhood and terrorist heroism. … Some of the means by which this literature has contributed to the radicalization of youth in J&K include distortion of historical facts, glorification of terrorists, vilification of security forces, religious radicalization, promotion of alienation, pathway to violence and terrorism etc.”  As per the notification, these 25 books were “found to excite secessionism and endangering sovereignty and integrity of India, thereby, attracting the provisions of Sections 152, 196 & 197 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023” (https://indianexpress.com/article/india/arundhati-roy-noorani-jk-bans-publication-25-books-kashmir-propagating-secessionism-10174625/)

A look into the list of books (provided at the end of this Press Release), which are academical outputs, historical accounts, journalistic descriptions or political commentaries, shows that these books include widely acclaimed The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 by noted constitutional expert, A. G. Noorani, Kashmir in Conflict – India, Pakistan and the Unending War by the British author and historian Victoria Schofield, Kashmir at the Crossroads and Contested Landsby eminent scholar, Prof. Sumantra Bose from the London School of Economics, Azadi by Booker Prize winner and public intellectual, Arundhati Roy., A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 by journalist Anuradha Bhasin. According to the notification, these books need to be declared as ‘forfeited’ as per the provisions of Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita  2023.

The timing of this notification also deserves mention. On the 5^th of August, 2019, the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was removed, and the constitutional provision, enshrined in the now-abrogated Article 370, was trampled by the present government.  Since then, there has been a seething anger and a burning desire of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to reclaim statehood. Voicing this aspiration, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on the sixth anniversary of the August 2019 parliamentary decree,  wrote in a letter to all national parties, including the BJP,  “Restoration of Statehood is not a concession to J&K but a course correction that the very idea of India is undermined if the Statehood which is foundational and constitutional right is reduced to the discretionary favour of the central government,” Mr. Abdullah wrote in the letter. “ (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jammu-and-kashmir/omar-seeks-restoration-of-jks-statehood-calls-for-course-correction/article69901157.ece). The banning of the books should also be seen against this backdrop of a popular sentiment.

CDRO observes with alarm that this attempt is to stop the reading of widely acclaimed books. We, at CDRO, firmly believe that this is not just an attempt to prevent some specific books from being discussed. These are brazen attempts to curb opinions which are critical of the present regimen and prevent the public to learn multidimensional aspects of political discourses and becoming an informed, rational citizen. Thus, behind this authoritarian step lies the fascist’s desire to control every opinion through the choking of democratic voices.

We note with concern that the bare fangs of fascism are becoming more conspicuous and ready to impose itself on the public, democratic institutions, and the population. CDRO feels that it is high time to stand united against all such onslaughts.  Hence, the CDRO demands an immediate withdrawal of this anti-people notification. It urges all democratic-minded people and, in particular, the authors, journalists and other media personalities, to stand united against the notification and express public solidarity with the authors whose books have been listed. Let us all unite and show our protest through public defiance of the notification.

(Asish Gupta)                                  (Tapas Chakraborty)                    (Kranthi Chaitanya)

Coordinators, CDRO

Constituent Organisations of CDRO:

Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR, Punjab); Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR, Haryana), Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR, West Bengal); Asansol Civil Rights Association(West Bengal); Bandi Mukti Committee(West Bengal); Civil Liberties Committee (Andhra Pradesh); Civil Liberties Committee (Telangana); Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (Maharashtra); Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR TamilNadu); Coordination for Human Rights (Manipur); Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (Assam); Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights; Peoples’Committee for Human Rights (Jammu and Kashmir); Peoples Democratic Forum(Karnataka); Jharkhand Council for Democratic Rights (Jharkhand); Peoples Union for Civil Rights (Haryana), Campaign for Peace & Democracy in Manipur, Delhi; Janakeeya Manushyaavakasha Prasthanam, Kerala.

The list of Books banned by the recent notification are:

1. Human Rights Violations in Kashmir – Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska

2. Kashmiris Fight for Freedom – Mohd Yusuf Saraf
3. Colonizing Kashmir: State-Building under Indian occupation – Hafsa Kanjwal 
4. Kashmir Politics and Plebiscite – Abdul Jabbar Gockhami
5. Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? – by Essar Batool, Ifrah Butt, Munaza Rashid, Natasha Rather, Samreen Mushtaq
6. Mujahid ki Azan – Imam Hasan Al-Bana Shaheed 
7. Al Jihadul fil Islam – Abul A’la al-Maududi
8. Independent Kashmir – Christopher Snedden
9. Resisting Occupation in Kashmir – Haley Duschinski, Mona Bhat, Ather Zia and Cynthia Mahmood
10. Between Democracy & Nation: Gender and Militarisation in Kashmir – Seema Kazi
11. Contested Lands – Sumantra Bose
12. In Search of a Future: The Story of Kashmir – David Devadas
13. Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War – Victoria Schofield
14. The Kashmir Dispute: 1947-2012 – A.G. Noorani
15. Kashmir at the Crossroads: Inside a 21st-Century Conflict – Sumantra Bose
16. A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir after Article 370 – Anuradha Bhasin
17. Resisting Disappearance: Military Occupation & Women’s Activism in Kashmir – by Ather Zia
18. Confronting Terrorism – Maroof Raza (Editor)
19. Freedom in Captivity: Negotiations of belonging along Kashmiri Frontier – Radhika Gupta
20. Kashmir: The Case for Freedom – Tariq Ali, Hilal Bhatt, Angana P Chatterji, Habbah Khatun, Pankaj Mishra and Arundhati Roy
21. Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction – Arundhati Roy
22. USA and Kashmir – Shamshad Shan
23. Law & Conflict Resolution in Kashmir- Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska
24. Tarikh-i-Siyasat Kashmir – Afaq
25. Kashmir & the future of South Asia – Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal (Editors)

10 August 2025

Source: countercurrents.org