“The Right to Read: A Disturbing Ban on Books in Jammu and Kashmir”

• The Union Territory’s Home Department has banned 25 books, citing a “false narrative and secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir”.

• The ban includes works by AG Noorani, Arundhati Roy, Victoria Schofield, and Ather Zia.

• The move contradicts the unity message in Kashmir, which was emphasized after the Pahalgam attack.

• The ban is seen as a tool to curb freedoms and alienate Kashmiris, despite the region’s progress since the abrogation of Article 370 six years ago.

• The banned books challenge the region’s complex history of conflict and the need for dialogue and conflict resolution.

• Repressive acts like book bans have rarely contributed to lasting accommodation or assimilation.

• The most effective tool to bring stability and combat disenchantment is deepening democracy and institutionalizing people’s participation in decision-making.

• The government’s refusal to build its own narrative is seen as a step backward.

• The J&K administration seems to have forgotten the principle of freedom of expression, which includes the right to write and read