Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have ordered a multi-level audit across all public libraries and educational institutions to purge books and digital archives flagged as "anti-national" or "glorifying terrorism".
The move has drawn sharp reaction from scholars and residents of Kashmir, who argue that the region’s academic freedom is being systematically destroyed.
In an order issued by the authorities earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir administration, which is directly appointed by New Delhi, called for “an audit of all books, journals, supplementary reading material, reference books, periodicals and other educational resources available in the libraries or learning resource centres.
“The exercise shall extend to the entire library collection," the order reads.
"No publication containing objectionable, inflammatory or inappropriate content, including any material promoting or glorifying extremism, violence, secessionism, anti-national ideology or otherwise prejudicial to the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the Union of India, shall be procured, recommended, retained, circulated or otherwise made available in the libraries or academic premises of the institutions,” it says.
