Srinagar, August 6 — The Jammu and Kashmir Home Department has issued an official order declaring 25 books for forfeiture, alleging that they propagate secessionist ideologies and false narratives regarding the region.
According to the notification dated August 5, 2025, the government claims that these books have contributed to “the radicalization of youth” by distorting historical facts, glorifying terrorists, and vilifying security forces. The forfeiture has been ordered under Section 98 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, and the titles are also alleged to violate Sections 152, 196, and 197 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.
The list includes the following books: Human Rights Violations in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz and Agnieszka Kuszewska, Kashmiri’s Fight for Freedom by Mohd Yousuf Saraf, Colonizing Kashmir by Hafsa Kanjwal, Kashmir Politics and Plebiscite by Abdul Jabbar Gochhami, Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? by Essar Batool and others, Mujahid ki Azaan by Imam Hasan Al-Banna (edited by Maulana Mohammad Enayatullah Subhani), Al Jihadul fil Islam by Moulana Moudadi, Independent Kashmir by Christopher Snedden, Resisting Occupation in Kashmir by Haley Duschinski, Mona Bhan, Ather Zia and Cynthia Mahmood, Between Democracy and Nation by Seema Kazi, Contested Lands and Kashmir at the Cross Roads by Sumantra Bose, In Search of a Future by David Devadas, Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, The Kashmir Dispute 1947–2012 by A.G. Noorani, A Dismantled State by Anuradha Bhasin, Resisting Disappearance by Ather Zia, Confronting Terrorism by Stephen Pohen (edited by Maroof Raza), Freedom in Captivity by Radhika Gupta, Kashmir: The Case for Freedom by Tariq Ali, Hilal Bhatt, Angana P. Chatterji, Pankaj Mishra and Arundhati Roy, Azadi by Arundhati Roy, USA and Kashmir by Dr. Shamshad Shan, Law & Conflict Resolution in Kashmir by Balcerowicz and Kuszewska, Tarikh-i-Siyasat Kashmir by Dr. Afaq, and Kashmir and the Future of South Asia edited by Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal.
The notification states that all copies of these books, forming part of “Annexure A,” are to be seized and forfeited by the government.
As of now, no official responses have been issued by the authors or publishers named in the list.
The Chenab Times News Desk
