Book ban imposed by LG, not me: Omar
While responding to a twitter account seeking revocation of the ban, Omar said that the ban was imposed by the home department controlled by the LG.
'Get your facts right before you call me a coward, you ignoramus. The ban has been imposed by the LG using the only department he officially controls - the Home Department. I've never banned books & I never would,' Abdullah said.
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor's order of banning 25 books, some of them by acclaimed national and international authors, has raised many eyebrows and elicited harsh reactions and condemnations.
The government's home department has issued a notification for 'forfeiture' of the 25 books to the government written by some prominent and acclaimed authors, political scientists and historians, including AG Noorani, Arundhati Roy, Sumantra Bose, Sugata Bose, Christopher Snedden and Victoria Schofield for allegedly propagating 'false narrative and secessionism' in J&K. Most of these books are written on Kashmir conflict, politics, history and human rights.
The order has attracted surprise and condemnation from many circles.
The government ordered the forfeiture of the books under section 98 of Bhartiya Nagrika Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
The forfeited books also include Between Democracy & Nation: Gender and Militarisation in Kashmir by Seema Kazi, Do you Remember Kunan Poshpora? by Essar Batool and Resisting Disappearance: Military Occupation and Women's Activism in Kashmir by Ather Zia.
The publication of Jamaat-e-Islami founder Moulana Abul A'la Maududi Maududi's Al Jihad fil Islam and Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna's Mujahid ki Azan are also on the list.
J&K Police on Thursday raided various books shops across the Valley looking for 'prohibited' content and urged the shopkeepers to forfeit the books to the government.
During the searches, all bookshop owners were sternly warned against stocking or distributing prohibited content.
The Peoples Democratic Party had alleged that it was astonished at the arbitrary and intellectually regressive move by the government to 'forfeit' 25 books it claims promote secessionism.
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