SRINAGAR, India: Indian authorities have banned 25 books in Kashmir that they say propagate “false narratives” and “secessionism” in the disputed region, where strict controls on the media have escalated in recent years.
The ban threatens people with prison time for selling or owning these works by authors such as Booker Prize-winning novelist and activist Arundhati Roy, constitutional expert A.G. Noorani, and noted academicians and historians like Sumantra Bose, Christopher Snedden and Victoria Schofield.
The order was issued on Tuesday by the region’s Home Department, which is under the direct control of Lt. Gov. Manoj Sinha, New Delhi’s top administrator in Kashmir.
Sinha wields substantial power in the region as the national government’s representative, while elected officials run a largely powerless government that took office last year after the first local election since India stripped the disputed region of its special status in 2019.
The order declared the 25 books “forfeit” under India’s new criminal code of 2023, effectively banning the works from circulation, possession and access within the Himalayan region.
