Indian-Administered Kashmir Orders Vetting of Books and Arrests Three Over Separatist Content

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir on July 9 ordered all educational institutions to vet books, journals, dissertations, doctoral theses and digital resources for objectionable content. The government directive requires institutions to block procurement, circulation or retention of any material that is misleading, factually incorrect, inflammatory or that promotes terrorism, violent extremism, secessionism, radicalisation or activity prejudicial to India's sovereignty and unity.

The order followed a demand earlier this month by BJP politician Sunil Sharma for a ban on the book Personalities and Legends of J&K.

The 240-page volume, supplied to public and school libraries under a government-funded programme, includes entries on separatist figures Maqbool Bhat, Masrat Alam Bhat and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Sharma described the books as an example of academic jihad intended to incite unrest.

Police arrested three people connected to the publishers of Personalities and Legends of J&K and Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir.

They face charges of endangering India's sovereignty, unity and integrity. Authorities also launched an investigation into how books with seditious content entered libraries; the inquiry was later expanded from school libraries to research publications, journals and digital content at universities.

The move comes seven years after New Delhi ended Indian-administered Kashmir's semi-autonomous status and placed the region under direct federal control.

Last year authorities banned 25 books, including titles by AG Noorani, Sumantra Bose and Arundhati Roy, and police raided more than a dozen bookshops to remove them. Earlier actions included the confiscation of at least 668 books by Abul A'la Maududi from Srinagar shops. Journalist Anuradha Bhasin said books are not bombs and described the orders as going overboard.