J&K book ban: Authors condemn move; call it ‘warning against free speech’ | India News
NEW DELHI: A day after the Jammu and Kashmir home department banned 25 books for allegedly “glorifying terrorism” and “inciting violence against India”, authors condemned the move, with one describing it as a “warning against free speech.”“It (the ban) attempts to place oppressed groups on notice, to warn Kashmiris against free speech, dissent, and against seeking acknowledgement and justice for the crimes of history detailed in the books that are now banned,” anthropologist and scholar Angana Chatterjee told news agency PTI on Thursday.Chatterjee’s “Kashmir: A Case for Freedom”, which she has co-authored, is on the list.Political scientist Sumantra Bose said his objective has always been “to identify pathways to peace.”“I have worked on Kashmir – among many other subjects – since 1993. Throughout, my chief objective has been to identify pathways to peace so that all violence ends and a stable future free of fear and war can be enjoyed by the people of the conflict region, of India as a whole, and the subcontinent. I am a committed and principled advocate of peaceful approaches and resolutions to armed conflicts, be it in Kashmir or elsewhere in the world,” Bose said.Two of his books, “Kashmir at the Crossroads: Inside a 21st-Century Conflict” and “Contested Lands”, have been banned.David Devadas, whose “In Search of a Future (The Story of Kashmir)” features on the list, called the ban “regrettable.”“My book strongly advocates peace, dialogue and democracy in the spirit of (then) Prime Minister Vajpayee’s peace process, which had reached fruition around the time my book was completed. I fully backed that peace process. The book was in consonance with the Constitution of India. It objectively brought out the truth about what had happened in Kashmir, including the roles of foreign powers and conflict entrepreneurs, without any advocacy of separatism,” Devadas, a journalist-author, stated.Some of the other books which have been banned include “Al Jihadul fil Islam” by Islamic scholar Moulana Moudadi, “Independent Kashmir” by Australian writer Christopher Snedden, “Kashmir in Conflict (India, Pakistan and the unending War)” by Victoria Schofield, “The Kashmir Dispute (1947-2012)” by A G Noorani, and “Azadi” by Arundhati Roy.
