Police Raid Bookshops in Kashmir After India Imposes Book Ban

Author: Vera Rousseff

August 12, 2025

HRRC condemns the Indian government’s book ban in Kashmir and strongly denounces the ongoing human rights abuses carried out in the region by the Modi administration.

A roadside bookstore in Kashmir. [Image credit: Dar Yasin/AP Photo/picture alliance]

On Thursday, police raided bookshops in Kashmir after Indian authorities announced a ban on 25 books earlier last week. The list includes books by renowned writers, academics, and historians whose works, according to the Indian government, propagate “false narratives” and “secessionism” in the region. The book ban and subsequent raids are part of a years-long effort by the Indian government to strengthen their control over the disputed region of Kashmir.

The ban, which was issued last Tuesday by Kashmir’s Home Department, states that anyone caught selling or owning works from the list could face prison time. The Home Department is controlled by Lt. Gov. Manoj Sinha, a former minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP government. As New Delhi’s top administrator in Kashmir, Sinha facilitates the national government’s control over the region. 

In its notice, the Home Department argued that the books play “a critical role in misguiding the youth, glorifying terrorism and inciting violence against the Indian State.” Among the authors featured on the list is Arundhati Roy, a recipient of the Booker Prize. Roy’s book Azadi describes how tens of thousands of people in Kashmir have been tortured, disappeared, or killed by the Indian government. The list also includes books by noted historians and academics such as Hafsa Kanjwal, Sumantra Bose, and Christopher Snedden. Kanjwal commented on the ban, saying that, “Nothing is surprising about this ban, which comes at a moment when the level of censorship and surveillance in Kashmir since 2019 has reached absurd heights.” 

Kanjwal’s comment refers to the revocation of Kashmir’s semiautonomous status by India six years ago. For decades, India and Pakistan have both claimed ownership of the region. The cause of the conflict—like that of many such cases—is rooted in colonization, in this case by the British. The 1947 Partition of British India created a Muslim-majority Pakistan and a Hindu-majority India. Kashmir, despite having a majority Muslim population, was led by a Hindu monarch and consequently chose to join India, on the condition that the territory would be allowed to remain semiautonomous.

Over the following decades, Pakistan and India’s dispute over Kashmir resulted in multiple armed skirmishes and three wars. In 2019, Modi’s government revoked Article 370 in the Indian constitution—the article granting Kashmir its semiautonomous status. Since then, the government has used various mechanisms to strengthen its control over the territory, including limiting press freedom, arbitrarily detaining civilians, and using military force.

Last week’s book raid is the latest step in the BJP’s strategy to restrict free speech and media in Kashmir. Authorities carried out a similar raid last February, when they seized Islamic literature from homes and bookshops. These incidents form a troubling pattern of authoritarian practices from the side of the BJP. The international community must continue to advocate for the rights of the Kashmiri people and speak out against the BJP’s repressive actions in the region. In the words of Kashmiri political leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, “Banning books by scholars and reputed historians will not erase historical facts and the repertoire of lived memories of people of Kashmir. It only exposes the insecurities and limited understanding of those behind such authoritarian actions.”

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Glossary

• Authoritarian: a governing style that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or small group, often limiting personal freedoms, political opposition, and free speech.

• BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party): India’s current ruling political party, known for its Hindu nationalist ideology.

• Booker Prize: a prestigious international literary award given annually for the best original novel written in the English language.

• Colonization: the act of one nation taking political and economic control over another territory, often involving settlement, exploitation of resources, and cultural domination.

• Censorship: the suppression or restriction of speech, writing, or other forms of expression that a government or authority deems objectionable or harmful.

• Disputed: describing something, such as land, facts, or claims, that different parties disagree over or contest ownership, truth, or control of.

• Free speech: the right to express one’s opinions publicly without government interference, subject to certain legal limitations.

• Hindu nationalist: a political ideology in India that promotes Hindu cultural and political dominance in national affairs.

• Home Department: a branch of the government responsible for internal security, public safety, and law enforcement within a specific territory or region.

• Human rights abuses: violations of basic rights and freedoms to which all people are entitled, such as freedom from torture, arbitrary detention, and censorship.

• Islamic literature: written works relating to Islam, including religious texts, scholarly writings, and cultural works informed by the religion.

• Monarch: a king, queen, or other sovereign head of state, typically ruling for life and often through hereditary succession.

• Press freedom: the ability of media organizations and journalists to publish information without censorship, political pressure, or fear of retribution.

• Propagate: to spread or promote an idea, belief, or piece of information to a wider audience.

• Raids: sudden searches or arrests carried out by authorities, often involving law enforcement entering homes or businesses without prior warning.

• Renowned: widely known and admired for achievements, quality, or importance.

• Repression: the act of controlling or limiting freedoms through force, intimidation, or restrictive laws.

• Revocation: the formal withdrawal or cancellation of a law, privilege, or agreement.

• Secessionism: the belief in or actions supporting the withdrawal of a region or group from an existing state to form a new independent state.

• Semiautonomous status: a political arrangement in which a territory has some degree of self-government but remains under the sovereignty of a larger state.

• Surveillance: the close monitoring of individuals or groups, often by government authorities, to gather information or control activities.