Mirwaiz questions removal of over 4,000 books from IIOJK colleges, libraries
Demands public disclosure of book titles and reasons for their removal
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has expressed concern over the government’s removal of more than 4,000 books from colleges and libraries on the grounds of containing objectionable material, describing the move as disturbing and unfortunate.
In a post on X, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq wrote that the Jammu and Kashmir government had reviewed around 2.2 million publications and removed 4,249 books containing objectionable material from colleges across IIOJK, including 518 banned books.
Questioning the basis for declaring these books objectionable, he demanded that their titles and the reasons for their removal be made public.
In another post on X, he referred to the government’s disclosure in the Legislative Assembly that the Higher Education Department had removed 4,249 “objectionable” books from colleges and libraries across IIOJK, with almost 4,000 of them from the Kashmir valley alone, describing the move both disturbing and unfortunate.
He further said that academic freedom and access to diverse perspectives in universities and colleges were fundamental to education and evolution of society.
Mirwaiz said attempts to ideologically regulate what students could and could not read “impoverish learning and critical thinking”.
Questioning the elected government, he asked whose agenda it was following by withdrawing the books, its own or someone else’s, and said that the people were entitled to an explanation.
