Authors include Sumantra Bose, AG Noorani, Arundhati Roy, Tariq Ali, Christopher Snedden, Victoria Schofield, Stephen P Cohen, among others


By Ullekh NP

In a startling move, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government has banned 25 books, including works by prominent academics and writers such as AG Noorani, Sumantra Bose, Sugata Bose, Arundhati Roy and others, alleging that they promote “false narratives” and “secessionism” in the region. The former state was reorganised into two Union Territories and brought under direct central government control in 2019.

The list also includes books by Victoria Schofield, Christopher Snedden, Anuradha Bhasin and others. According to an order issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Home Secretary, who reports to the Lieutenant Governor, the ban is based on “available evidence from investigations and credible intelligence” indicating that these works have played a “significant role in youth participation in violence and terrorism.”

The order claims that these publications “misguide the youth, glorify terrorism, and incite violence against the Indian state,” while being “disguised as historical or political commentary.”

The books have been declared “forfeited” under Section 98 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, citing concerns that they threaten the sovereignty and integrity of India.

Among the banned titles are Contested Lands and Kashmir at the Crossroads, both by Professor Sumantra Bose; Azadi by Arundhati Roy; Kashmir and the Future of South Asia, edited by Harvard professors Sugata Bose (a former member of the Lok Sabha) and Ayesha Jalal; The Kashmir Dispute: 1947–2012 by the late AG Noorani; A Dismantled State by Anuradha Bhasin; Independent Kashmir by Christopher Snedden; Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, besides others.

Other authors whose works have been proscribed include London-based Marxist writer Tariq Ali, Radhika Gupta, Stephen P Cohen, Piotr Balcerowicz, Agnieszka Kuszewska, David Devadas, Ather Zia, and several others.

Notably, three of the authors whose works are banned belong to the family of the great Indian nationalist Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: Sumantra Bose and his elder brother Sugata Bose, both grandnephews of the leader, and Sugata’s spouse Ayesha Jalal.

Most of these books are brought out by leading university presses and major publishers, both in India and abroad.