Rao Altaf Hamid NIZAMI
MIRPUR ( AJK) (Parliament Times): Kashmiris living on both sides of the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir state and rest of the world has strongly condemned the imposition of ban by India on 25 books on Wednesday written by distinguished authors, on Jammu & Kashmir’s people’s just and principled struggle for freedom of Kashmir, says reports reaching here from across the LoC and various other parts of the world.
Vehemently condemning the Indian action, Istanbul-based Kashmiris’rughrs international outfit ‘Kashmir Diaspora Coalition’ termed the ban on 25 Books, a deliberate attack on memory and dissent.
“The Kashmir Diaspora Coalition (KDC) strongly condemns the Jammu & Kashmir
“administration’s” recent decision to ban 25 books for allegedly promoting “secessionism”
and “anti-national narratives,” said the KDC Forum’s supremo Dr. Mubeen Shah, veteran Kashmiri leader from IIOJK in exile.
Talking to our Special Jammu Kashmir state Correspondent Alyaf Hamid Rao over telephone on Thursday Dr Shah said “this sweeping move, announced on August 6, 2025, marks a dangerous escalation in the Indian state’s ongoing effort to suppress Kashmiri voices andrewrite the region’s history”.
“Among the banned titles are critical academic works such as Colonizing Kashmir by Dr.
Hafsa Kanjwal, Kashmir’s Fight for Freedom by M.Y. Saraf, and Azadi by Arundhati Roy,
alongside globally recognized texts on Kashmir’s legal and political status, he said adding that these works neither incite violence nor promote extremism—they represent a vital part of the intellectual archive that documents Kashmir’s contested history, colonial present, and political
aspirations.
He continued as saying “this is not an isolated incident. Since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, Indian authorities have conducted a coordinated campaign of digital erasure, censorship, and narrative control in Kashmir. Newspapers have been de-platformed, websites defunded,archives deleted, journalists jailed, and public libraries raided. The banning of books is a continuation of this project of memoricide—a deliberate attempt to erase Kashmiri resistance, silence scholarly critique, and criminalize historical truth.
The KDC headed Demanded Immediate revocation of the August 6 book ban order under
Section 95 of CrPC/BNSS.
2. Restoration of access to censored digital archives, including newspapers like Greater Kashmir and other local publications.
3. An end to the criminalization of academic and journalistic work
that questions the state narrative.
4. International intervention by bodies such as UNESCO, PEN
International, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to
investigate and respond to India’s censorship policies in Kashmir.
5. Global hosting and archiving of banned Kashmiri material by
diaspora institutions, human rights organizations, and academic platforms.
Seeking immediate attention of the world to this unwarranted and immoral Indian action, Dr. Mubeen Shah said “censorship is not security. Silencing Kashmiris will not erase their struggle. The erasure of books is the erasure of a people’s voice”.
He demanded that the international community must not remain silent in the face of such authoritarian tactics. Kashmir’s history cannot be banned out of existence. As the diaspora, we remain committed to preserving our truth, amplifying our voices, and protecting our intellectual heritage from the tools of the occupation”, he concluded.