SHUMAILA ASLAM
Scandinavian News Agency
Bureau Chief – Pakistan
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have raided multiple bookshops across the region following the government’s ban on 25 books deemed to promote “secessionism” and “false narratives” in the disputed territory.
Among the banned works is a book by Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy, one of India’s most acclaimed writers, whose criticism of the government’s Kashmir policy has long drawn controversy.
Officials confirmed that roadside book vendors and literary outlets in Srinagar and other areas were searched on Thursday as part of the enforcement drive. However, police did not disclose whether any banned material had been confiscated.
The ban and subsequent raids have sparked concern among freedom of expression advocates, who view it as another move to suppress dissenting voices in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
Kashmir has remained a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both countries claiming the region in full but controlling only parts of it.
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