The Jammu & Kashmir Home Department, which falls under the office of the Lt. Governor, has banned a total of 25 books, including a book by communist author Arundhati Roy, for propagating a false narrative and secessionism in the Union Territory. The administration has ordered the forfeiture of the copies of the banned books under Section 98 of the BNS to stop their circulation.
According to the J&K Home Secretary, the books have been banned after an investigation and credible intelligence about a “systemic dissemination of false narratives and secessionist literature” under the guise of historical or political commentary. “The identified 25 books have been found to excite secessionism and endanger the sovereignty and integrity of India, thereby attracting the provisions of Sections 152, 196 & 197 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023,” read the order of the Home Department.
Evidence found proving that the banned literature motivated local youth to join terrorism
The Home Department found evidence showing that the propagation of false narratives and secessionism has been a major contributing factor to the youth being involved in terrorist activities.
“Available evidence based on investigations and credible intelligence unflinchingly indicate that a significant driver behind youth participation violence and terrorism has been the systematic dissemination of false narratives and secessionist literature by its persistent internal circulation, often disguised as historical or political commentary, while playing a critical role in misguiding the youth, glorifying terrorism and inciting violence against Indian State,” the order stated.
In the order, the Home Department highlighted the role of such literature in radicalisation of the youth of J&K. “Some of the means by which this literature has contributed to the radicalization of youth in J&K include distortion of historical facts, glorification of terrorists, vilification of security forces, religious radicalization, promotion of alienation, pathway to violence and terrorism etc.,” the order said.
Banned books include books by leftists, fundamentalists and foreign authors
The banned books include many books written by leftists and Islamic fundamentalists. For example, Arundhati Roy’s book ‘Azadi’, A G Noorani’s book ‘The Kashmir Dispute, 1947-2012’, Sumantra Bose’s ‘Kashmir at the Crossroads’ and ‘Contested Lands’, David Devadas’s ‘In Search of a Future: The Kashmir Story’ and journalist Anuradha Bhasin’s ‘A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir after Article 370’ have been banned.
Several books by foreign authors are also among the banned books, including Hafsa Kanjwal’s ‘Closing Kashmir’, Haley Dushinsky’s ‘Resisting Occupation in Kashmir’, Victoria Schofield’s ‘Kashmir in Conflict’, Stephen P. Cohen’s Confronting Terrorism, and Christopher Snedden’s ‘Independent Kashmir’.
Some books of Islamic fundamentalists have also been banned. These include Maulana Abul Ala Maududi’s ‘Al Jihad Fil Islam’ and Hassan al-Banna’s ‘Mujahid ki Azan’. Other banned books include Law and Conflict in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska, USA and Kashmir by Dr. Shamshad Shan, and Tarikh-e-Siasat Kashmir by Dr. Afaq.
Anti-India propagandist Arundhati Roy has a UAPA case going on against her
In June 2024, Delhi LG VK Saxena approved the prosecution of Arundhati Roy under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for giving a provocative speech at a conference organised under the banner of ‘Azadi – The Only Way’ at the LTG Auditorium on Copernicus Road in Delhi on October 21, 2010. In the conference, the idea of separation of Kashmir from India was promoted.
The complaint against Roy stated that she claimed in the conference that Kashmir was never a part of India and was forcibly occupied by the Indian armed forces. She called for making every possible effort for the independence of Jammu and Kashmir from India. The complainant provided a recording of her statements. Subsequently, an FIR was filed against her on the order of the Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi. Previously, in October 2023, Delhi LG VK Saxena gave permission to prosecute under other sections.
Delhi LG V K Saxena has sanctioned for prosecution of Arundhati roy for an FIR registered in 2010.
— BALA (@erbmjha) October 10, 2023
Arundhati Roy had said, “Kashmir is not an integral part of India, and it never was.”
Finally after 13 yrs. @khanumarfa pic.twitter.com/hIR5Mkx0Pj
Leftist Arundhati refers to all Indian states as ‘colonies’
Roy’s secessionist imaginations are not limited to Jammu and Kashmir; she also wants to divide the rest of India into smaller units. While speaking at the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages of the University of Westminster, Britain, in 2011, Roy claimed India continued the British policy of colonisation even after the British left, as a consequence of which the Indian people are bearing the atrocities of the Indian Armed Forces. She further claimed that tribal people, special communities and Christians across the country have been fighting a war against the Indian nation.
Roy falsely claimed that after independence, India colonised the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Hyderabad, Punjab, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Goa and that these states have been fighting for their freedom. She went to compare the Indian Army with the Pakistani Army and said that even the latter did not commit such atrocities. Referring to India as an ‘Upper Caste Hindu Nation’, Roy further lied that the country had been in a constant state of war.
Roy believes that the Indian Army is not better than the armies of Pakistan and Bangladesh
In an attempt to sound fair and neutral, the Hindu-hating leftist said, “Whatever the Pakistan Army is doing in Balochistan or the genocide it committed in Bangladesh, my opinion on this has never been ambiguous. I have written a lot about this. Hindu nationalists are creating a ruckus by bringing out my old video clips.” However, Roy had later apologised for her statement regarding the Pakistan Army.
Roy believes that the Indian Army is no better than the armies of Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Anyone who has read me will not believe these things for a second. Morally, none of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India is superior to the other. An atmosphere of fascism is being created in India. Anyone who raises his voice against this fears being defamed, trolled, sent to jail and beaten up,” she claimed.
Leftists like Arundhati Roy have been continuously spreading venom about Kashmir, sometimes through books and sometimes through their statements. There was a time when these people used to get applause for standing in the national capital and talking about breaking India. Their books used to get awards. But now times have changed and there is no one left to carry forward their separatist thinking.
