Jailed APHC leader Bilal Siddiqui condemns book ban in IIOJK as assault on free speech
Banning books can’t erase history, says Agha Hasan
Srinagar: Incarcerated leader of All Parties Hurriyat Confrence (APHC) and Chairman of Tehreek-e-Muzahamat, Bilal Siddiqui has strongly and unequivocally condemned the Indian illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir administration’s recent decision to ban 25 books authored by respected Kashmiri, Indian and international scholars, journalists, and thinkers.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the IIOJK administration, led by New Delhi-appointed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, ordered the confiscation of these 25 books, alleging they threaten “India’s integrity.” Among the banned authors are Victoria Schofield, Alastair Lamb, Christopher Snedden, A.G. Noorani, Arundhati Roy, Mohammad Yusuf Saraf, Basharat Peer, and Dr. Hafsa Kanjwal.
In a statement from Srinagar Central Jail, Bilal Siddiqui described the sweeping ban as a brutal and authoritarian assault on freedom of speech, academic integrity, and intellectual discourse.
He said, “The banned books—many of which critically document the political, historical, and human rights realities of Kashmir—are now being arbitrarily labeled as “seditious” or “terror-glorifying” without any transparent evidence or legal justification. This is a deliberate move to criminalize truth and silence memory.”
Bilal Siddiqui further said, “The banning of these books reflects a deepening intolerance for the truth. The regime’s fear is not of violence but of knowledge, history, and resistance preserved through words. They seek to burn pages because they cannot erase facts. The censorship targets not only authors but every thinking, reading, resisting soul in Kashmir.”
Meanwhile, senior APHC leader and President of Anjuman Shari Shian, Agha Syed Hasan Al-Moosavi Al-Safavi, also condemned the ban while addressing a gathering in Badgam, calling it an act of strangling intellectual freedom. He said, “Such actions can neither erase historical facts nor obliterate the living memory of the people of Kashmir.”
