India introduces large-scale book audit in Kashmir libraries to remove materials deemed 'anti-state'

Authorities controlling Kashmir have issued an order for a multi-level audit across all government libraries and educational institutions. The goal of this measure is to remove books and digital archives that have been flagged as 'anti-state' or 'glorifying terrorism.'

Reasons and Details of the Audit

The Jammu and Kashmir administration, appointed directly from New Delhi, has demanded an inspection of all educational resources, including books, journals, reference materials, and periodicals. According to the directive, it is prohibited to purchase, recommend, store, or distribute any publications containing unacceptable, provocative, or inappropriate content, especially that which promotes extremism, violence, separatism, or ideology contradicting the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of the Union of India.

Trigger for the Review

The large-scale audit was initiated following objections raised by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, regarding the content of two books. Consequently, the Jammu and Kashmir administration ordered the immediate withdrawal of these publications, which had previously been distributed in over 250 schools in the region. These books, 'Personalities and Legends of Jammu and Kashmir' (authors Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena, publisher Oberoi Book Service, Jammu and Kashmir) and 'Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir' (author Dr. Sushant Giri, publisher Anurag Prakashan, New Delhi), were distributed under the state's Samagra Shiksha program.

Local resident Ahmad noted that 'the government is conducting increasingly close and constant surveillance over what is written, printed, and read in Kashmir.' Sunil Sharma, the BJP opposition leader in the region, stated that using terminology such as 'Kashmir, occupied by India' in books constitutes a 'direct challenge to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,' labeling the inclusion of such materials as an act of 'academic jihad' to indoctrinate youth.

Consequences and Investigations

Following protests, the administrative head of the region, Manoj Sinha, suspended eight officials from the School Education Department and launched an official investigation into the matter and against the authors. Both publishers have been blacklisted, and an order has been issued to recall any materials previously published by them. The conflict intensified due to several entries in the 240-page book 'Personalities and Legends of Jammu and Kashmir,' which featured writers such as Salman Rushdie and Hari Kunzru alongside pro-freedom leaders, in addition to freedom supporters.

In this book, Maqbool Bat, founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front armed group, was named a 'Shaheed' (martyr). Bat was hanged after a death sentence from the Supreme Court of India, and his body was secretly buried in Tihar Jail in New Delhi. The book also quoted the late resistance leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who described Kashmir as a 'disputed region awaiting a political solution under the auspices of the UN.'

History of Censorship in the Region

This is not the first instance where the administration appointed from New Delhi has targeted books. In August 2025, authorities banned 25 books, declaring them 'confiscated' by the state under Indian criminal law. Among the banned works were foundational political texts such as AG Nurani's 'The Kashmir Dispute' and Victoria Schofield's 'Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Endless War,' as well as Arundhati Roy's collection of essays 'Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction.' Major scholarly works were also noted, including Sumantra Bose's 'Contested Lands and Kashmir at the Crossroads,' Hafsa Kandjwal's 'Colonization of Kashmir: Building a State under Indian Occupation,' and Anuradha Bhasin's chronicle 'The Dismantled State After 2019,' alongside Christopher Snowden's 'Independent Kashmir.'

Kashmiri scholars warn that the current library audit is not an isolated measure but the final stage of imposing state-mandated ideological boundaries. Dr. Ather Zia, a professor of anthropology and gender studies at the University of Northern Colorado, whose work 'Resistance to Disappearances' was among those flagged, characterized the audit as an attempt to enforce norms. According to her, the removal of so-called 'unacceptable material' is part of a long history of censorship and suppression of critical thinking in Kashmir. She emphasized that any healthy intellectual society functions based on disagreement and criticism, and an extreme purge eliminating all critical voices indicates the illusory nature of democratic participation in Kashmir.

Fear and Repression

Freedom advocate Mirwaiz Umar Farooq stated on X that the banning of books 'will not erase historical facts or the repertoire of lived memories of the people of Kashmir.' Last year, police also conducted raids on bookstores, confiscating copies of banned books. In February 2025, authorities confiscated Islamic literature from bookstores and homes throughout the valley. Media researcher Ahmad reported that the government 'is watching more closely and constantly what is written, printed, and read in Kashmir.'

After the BJP-led government unilaterally revoked Article 370 in August 2019, continuous regulation of literature and thought began by the Indian military and administration. Legislation restricted land ownership for non-Kashmiris and regulated employment. Since the repeal of this protective measure, Indian law enforcement agencies have increased high-tech surveillance and tightened measures against local press, human rights activists, and political dissidents. India has also introduced strict laws for Indians to settle in Kashmir, dividing the region into administrative territories governed directly from New Delhi.

Since 1947, when the British colony of India was partitioned into two nations—India and Pakistan—the Kashmir region in the Himalayas remains one of the most disputed in the world. Both countries claim it entirely, and both have become nuclear powers, controlling only parts of the territory. This geopolitical conflict has led to numerous wars and armed uprisings.

Expert Opinion on Censorship

Historian Dean Accardi of the College of Connecticut believes that state censorship almost always occurs when power fears public opposition to its policies. He argues that instead of addressing the causes of public discontent, censorship seeks to reduce public knowledge of facts and open discussion, replacing them with propaganda and punishment in the name of 'security.' He insists that the state should not suppress the truth about Kashmir but should address these issues openly.

Sociologist Goldie Osuri from the University of Warwick notes that since the ban on 25 books last year, there has been a 'continuing war against any academic material' that deviates from the narratives of the Indian state regarding Kashmir. In her view, the Indian state does not accept any accounts that confirm challenges to Indian rule by the residents of Kashmir, which she sees as a war against academic freedom. Fear of the audit is felt even at home, where people silently destroy their private archives, as was done by civil servant Nafes.