J&K government declares 25 books on Kashmir forfeited for exciting secessionism and endangering sovereignty of India

Time of India

2 days ago

The Home Department of the Jammu and
Kashmir
government has issued a notification declaring 25
books on Kashmir
as forfeited for allegedly exciting secessionism and endangering sovereignty and integrity of India.
The books have been banned under section 98 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and sections 152, 196,197 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Some of the authors whose books have been banned include A G Noorani, Sumatra Bose, Arundhati Roy, Maulana Maududi, Pankaj Mishra, Victoria Schofield, Stephen P Cohen, Hasan ul Bana, David Devdas, Hafsa Kanjwal and others. The books have been published by some prominent houses including Oxford University Press, Routledge, Stanford University Press, University of Pennsylvania Press, Harper Collins, Cambridge University Press, Penguin India and other publishing houses.
The notification issued by the Home Department, which is under the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha,stated that it has come to the notice of the government that certain literature propagates false narrative and secessionism in J&K.
'Available evidence based on investigations and credible intelligence unflinchingly indicate that a significant driver behind youth participation in 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,' read the notification issued on August, 5, 2025, also the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 (A) and downgrading of the J&K into the two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The notification states that this literature would 'deeply impact the psyche of youth by promoting culture of grievance, victim hood and terrorist heroism.' '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, religious radicalization, promotion of alienation, pathway to violence, terrorism, etc,' read the notification.
The notification mentioned that 25 books have been identified that propagate false narrative and secessionism in J&K and need to be declared as 'forfeited' in terms of Section 98 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023; and whereas; the identified 25 books have been found to excite secessionism and endangering sovereignty and integrity of India, thereby, attracting the provisions of sections 152, 196 & 197 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.
'Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 98 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir hereby declares publication of 25 books, forming Annexure 'A' to this Notification, and their copies or other documents to be forfeited to the Government', the notification added.
The list of the 25 books banned include, Human Rights Violation in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz and Angnieszka Kuszewka, Kashmir's Fight for Freedom by Muhammad Yusuf Saraf, Colonizing Kashmir by Hafsa Kanjwal, Kashmir Politics and Plebiscite by Dr Abdul Jabbar Gockhami, Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora, by Essar Batool and others, Mujahid Ki Azan by Imam Hasan ul Bana Shaheed, Al Jihad Fil Islam by Maulana Maududi, Independent Kashmir by Christopher Snedden, Resisting Occupation Kashmir by Haley Duschinski, Mona Bhat, Athar Zia and Cynthia Mahmood, Between Democracy and Nation by Seema Kazi, Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose, In Search of Future by David Devadas, Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, The Kashmir Dispute by A G Noorani, Kashmir at the Cross Roads by Sumantra Bose, A Dismantled State by Anuradha Bhasin, Resisting Disappearance by Ather Zia, Confronting Terrorism by Stephen P Cohen, Freedom in Captivity by Radhika Gupta, Kashmir by Tariq Ali, Hilal Bhat, Angana P Chatterjee, Pankaj Mishra and Arundhati Roy, Azadi by Arundhati Roy, USA and Kashmir by Dr Shamshad Shan, Law and Conflict Resolution in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz and Angnieszka Kuszewka, Tarikh i Siyasat e Kashmir by Dr Afaq and Kashmir and the future of South Asia by Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal.