After the Jammu and Kashmir administration banned 25 books, the police in the Union Territory on Thursday carried out searches in several districts to confiscate the prohibited titles, The Tribune reported.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the Home Department headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha claimed that the books were “forfeited” for allegedly promoting false narratives and inciting secessionism.
The banned titles include works by writer and activist Arundhati Roy and former Supreme Court lawyer and constitutional expert AG Noorani.
Srinagar Police said that the searches were conducted at several bookshops in the city “under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita”, NDTV reported.
The searches were also carried out at the Chinar Book Festival in Srinagar, where about 200 stalls have been set up. It was inaugurated by Sinha last week, the news outlet reported.
The Srinagar Police stated that the “objective of the operation was to identify, seize and forfeit any literature that propagates or systematically disseminates false narratives, promotes secessionist ideologies or otherwise poses a threat to the sovereignty and unity of India”.
The raids were also carried out under the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita section that authorises the police to seize copies of the books.
In the Anantnag district, the police carried out the searches to “identify and curb materials that glorify terrorism, distort historical facts and vilify security forces”, The Tribune reported.
The police statement added that the materials were “recognised as contributing to youth radicalisation”.
In Kulgam district, the police warned bookshop owners against stocking or distributing the banned titles.
“They were also sensitised about the legal consequences of violating these directives and instructed to strictly follow the guidelines,” The Tribune quoted the Kulgam Police as saying.
Similar searches were carried out in other parts of the Kashmir Valley.
Among the titles that have been banned are Roy’s Azadi and Noorani’s The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012.
Political scientist and academic Sumantra Bose’s Kashmir at the Crossroads and journalist Anuradha Bhasin’s A Dismantled State are also on the list, in addition to Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora by Essar Batool and others, Freedom Captivity by Radhika Gupta and Between Democracy and Nation by Seema Kazi.
The international books that were banned include Kashmiri-American author Hafsa Kanjwal’s Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian occupation, Haley Duschinski’s Resisting Occupation in Kashmir, Victoria Schofield’s Kashmir in Conflict and Christopher Snedden’s Independent Kashmir.
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