The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned a list of twenty-five books which have been accused of propagating “false narrative and secessionism”. Issuing a notice on August 5, the government held such literature responsible for rampant youth participation in violence and terrorism. Creating an uproar on social media, while the majority of the voices have praised this ban, there are few who oppose it too. In this list also lies Booker Prize Awardee Arundhati Roy’s ‘Azadi’.
Declaring these books as “forfeited”, the literature was banned as per Section 98 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023. Along with Section 98, they have also been found “harming and endangering the sovereignty and integrity” of India under Section 152, 196, and 197. Reacting to this, a netizen shared on social media how this move conveys “misplaced priorities” of those who placed the ban.
J&K bans 25 books: Full list
| S.no | Book banned | Author |
| 1 | Human Rights Violating in Kashmir | Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska |
| 2 | Kashmiri’s Fight for Freedom | Mohd Yousuf Saraf |
| 3 | Colonizing Kashmir, State-Building under Indian Occupation | Hafsa Kanjwal |
| 4 | Kashmir Politics and Plebiscite | Dr. Abdul Jabbar Gockhami |
| 5 | Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? | Essar Batool & others |
| 6 | Mujahid ki Azaan | Imam Hasan Al-Bana Shaheed edited by: Maulan Mohammad Enayatullah Subhani |
| 7 | Al Jihadul fil Islam | Moulana Moudadi |
| 8 | Independent Kashmir | Christopher Snedden |
| 9 | Resisting Occupation In Kashmir | Haley Duschinski, Mona Bhat, Ather Zia and Cynthia Mahmood |
| 10 | Between Democracy and Nation (Gender and Materialization in Kashmir) | Seema Kazi |
| 11 | Contested Lands | Sumantra Bose |
| 12 | In Search of a Future (The Story of Kasimir) | 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 Cross Roads (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) | Ather Zia |
| 18 | Confronting Terrorism | Stephen Pcohen Edited by: Maroof Raza |
| 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, Pankaj Mishra and Arundhati Roy |
| 21 | Azadi | Arundhati Roy |
| 22 | USA and Kashmir | Dr. Shamshad Shan |
| 23 | Law & Conflict Resolution in Kashmir | Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska |
| 24 | Tarikh-i-Siyasat Kashmir | Dr. Afaq |
| 25 | Kashmir & the future of South Asia | Edied by: Sugata Bose & Ayesh Jalal |
Netizens react
Among a plethora of posts announcing the ban of these books, the majority of them read high praises of this ban, with very few opposing the move. This comes after the prosecution Roy faced in 2024 for comments she made in 2010, where she allegedly suggested that Jammu and Kashmir was never an integral part of India. “Thought police,” questioned another user on X.
Why were the books banned?
As per the notification from the Home Department, Civil Secretariat, the texts banned were found to contain “persistent internal circulation,” based on an investigation. The expository nature of the books were called a “disguise” of historical or political commentary, which the state government accused of spreading secessionist agendas.
The notice also accused the books of misguiding the youth, “glorifying terrorism and inciting violence”. As a way to protect the “psyche of the youth” that promoted grievance, victimhood good and terrorist heroism. They also claimed that the books not only distort historical facts but also glorify terrorists, “villification of security forces, religious radicalisation, and promotion of alienation.”
This strong-worded rhetoric not only places the burden on the authors but also imposes the bias of the state government.