Kashmir book ban reveals authorities’ insecurity, contradicts claims of progress: Indian Express
New Delhi: The recent ban on 25 books in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) reveals a deepening insecurity within the territory’s administration and contradicts claims of progress under the Modi government, a critical editorial by Indian Express has said.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the banned books, authored by Indian and international writers, including A.G. Noorani, Arundhati Roy, Victoria Schofield, Christopher Snedden, Moulana Moudadi, and Ather Zia, explore Kashmir’s complex and often tragic history of conflict, an issue the Indian government seems eager to suppress.
The Indian English daily editorial wrote that the ban, ordered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and enforced through widespread police seizures, came less than five months after Indian Home Minister Amit Shah declared that “separatism is breathing its last” in Kashmir.
“What changed between March and August that an establishment which was congratulating itself for the progress made in Kashmir should display such heightened insecurity five months later that it should seek to banish books?” the editorial questioned.
Despite official claims of unity and development since the abrogation of Article 370, the editorial argues that censorship and repression only fuel alienation and distrust. It stated, “That the Centre and its appointee, the L-G, still believe that banning books and curbing freedoms is an effective strategy against alienation and disaffection in the Valley, belies their claims of the distance covered. The ban on books is both disturbing and disheartening”.
The piece stresses that lasting peace requires open engagement with Kashmir’s diverse narratives, not their suppression. Globally, book bans have rarely contributed to reconciliation or stability, it said.
Highlighting the importance of democracy and people’s participation, the editorial said, “That history cannot be wished away. Indeed, for peace to endure, it must be engaged with, and different perspectives must converse and even collide in an open space. Across the world, in societies moving towards a resolution of tangled histories, repressive acts like book bans have rarely contributed to lasting accommodation, or assimilation. By all accounts, the most effective tool to bring stability and combat disenchantment remains a deepening of democracy and institutionalisation of people’s participation in decision-making.”
Reaffirming the fundamental principle of freedom of expression, the editorial emphasized that while literary tastes vary, the right to write and read must remain unhindered. It concluded that genuine progress in Kashmir demands inclusive dialogue and respect for individual liberties, not draconian censorship.
