The notification does not specify how or when these works, which have been widely cited in academic and policy circles and form part of many university syllabi across the world, were assessed, nor whether the authors or publishers were given an opportunity to respond.
Groundxero | Aug 6, 2025
The Jammu and Kashmir government on 5th August, 2025, ordered a ban of 25 books on Kashmir, including those written by prominent authors and renowned scholars, alleging that the books propagate “false narratives and secessionism in J&K.”
A notification issued by the Home Department on Tuesday said, “Available evidence based on investigations and credible intelligence unflinchingly indicate that a significant driver behind youth participation in violence and terrorism has been the systematic dissemination of false narratives and secessionist literature.” It alleged that the identified books have played a “critical role” in “misguiding the youth, glorifying terrorism and inciting violence against the Indian State.”
The books banned include Azadi by renowned author Arundhati Roy, Contested Land by political scientist Sumantra Bose, The Kashmir Dispute (1947-2012) by legal luminary and constitutional expert AG Noorani, The Untold Story of Kashmir after Article 370 by Anuradha Bhasin and Independent Kashmir by Christopher Snedden.
Other noted works on Kashmir in the list of banned books are Do you Remember Kunan Poshpora by Essar Batool & others, Freedom Captivity (Negotiations of belonging along Kashmiri Frontier) by Radhika Gupta, Kashmir in Conflict (India, Pakistan and the unending War) by Victoria Schofield, Mujahid ki Azaan by Imaam Hasan-Al Bana, and Between Democracy and Nation (Gender and Militarization in Kashmir) by Seema Kazi.
The notification alleged that those publications have contributed to the “radicalization of youth” in J&K through “distortion of historical facts, glorification of terrorists, vilification of security forces and religious radicalization.”
The government notification said that the identified 25 books have been found to “excite secessionism and endangering sovereignty and integrity of India,” thereby, attracting the provisions of sections 152, 196 & 197 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023. The government has declared publication of those 25 books, and their copies or other documents to be forfeited to the government.
The notification, however, does not specify how or when these works, which have been widely cited in academic and policy circles and form part of many university syllabi across the world, were assessed, nor whether the authors or publishers were given an opportunity to respond.
*List of the 25 Books banned*
- Human Rights Violations in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz & Agnieszka Kuszewska ( Routledge /Manohar)
- Kashmir’s Fight for Freedom by Mohd Yosuf Saraf (Feroze Sons, Pakistan)
- Colonizing Kashmir by Hafsa Kanjwal
- Kashmir Politics and Plebiscite by Dr. Abdul Jabbar (Gulshan Books, Kashmir)
- Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? by Essar Batool et al. (Zubaan Books)
- Mujahid ki Azaan, edited by Maulana Mohammad Enayatullah Subhani (Markazi Maktaba Islami, Delhi)
- Al Jihadul fil Islam by Maulana Maududi (Darul Musannifeen, Delhi)
- Independent Kashmir by Christopher Snedden (Manchester University Press/Sanctum Books, Delhi)
- Resisting Occupation in Kashmir by Haley Duschinski, Ather Zia, Mona Bhan & Cynthia Mahmood (UPenn Press)
- Between Democracy and Nation: Gender and Militarization in Kashmir by Seema Kazi (Oxford University Press)
- Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose
- In Search of a Future: The Story of Kashmir by David Devadas
- Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield
- The Kashmir Dispute (1947–2012) by A.G. Noorani
- Kashmir at the Crossroads by Sumantra Bose
- A Dismantled State by Anuradha Bhasin (HarperCollins India)
- Resisting Disappearance by Ather Zia (Zubaan Books)
- Confronting Terrorism, edited by Maroof Raza & Stephen Cohen (Penguin India)
- Freedom in Captivity by Radhika Gupta (Cambridge University Press)
- Kashmir: The Case for Freedom by Tariq Ali, Hilal Bhatt, Angana P. Chatterji, Pankaj Mishra & Arundhati Roy (Verso Books)
- Azadi by Arundhati Roy (Penguin India)
- USA and Kashmir by Dr. Shamshad Shan (Gulshan Books)
- Law & Conflict Resolution in Kashmir by Piotr Balcerowicz & Agnieszka Kuszewska (Routledge/Manohar)
- Tarikh‑i‑Siyasat Kashmir by Dr. Afaq (Karwan‑e‑Tahqiq‑o‑Saqafat Kashmir)
- Kashmir & the Future of South Asia, edited by Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal (Routledge/Manohar)