Indian authorities have banned 25 books written by scholars, including Hafsa Kanjwal's Colonizing Kashmir: State- Building under Indian Occupation, claiming they incite violence and secessionism. This move is accompanied by police raids on bookstores that resulted in the seizure of banned literature. Simultaneously, the Indian army is promoting literature through a state-sponsored book festival. Critics argue that these bans signify a broader campaign by New Delhi to control academic discourse in Kashmir, particularly following intensified censorship since the revocation of the region's semi-autonomous status in 2019.
The banned books offer a detailed overview of the events surrounding the Partition of India and why Kashmir became an intransigent territorial dispute.
The ban follows police raids on bookstores in Srinagar, where books on the blacklist were seized, amidst a state-sponsored book festival.
Critics perceive the book bans as a sweeping attempt by New Delhi to assert control over academia in the disputed Kashmir region.
Kanjwal described the ban as part of escalating censorship and surveillance in Kashmir, particularly since the Indian government's actions in 2019.
Collection
[
|
...
]