Bookstore raids in Kashmir by police prompt widespread criticism

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir raided bookstores and seized 668 books linked to a major Islamic organisation in the disputed region, where strict controls on the press have escalated in recent years.

The raids began on Friday in Srinagar, the region’s main city. Police said they acted “based on credible intelligence regarding the clandestine sale and distribution of literature promoting the ideology of a banned organisation”.

According to booksellers, the seized books were mostly published by New Delhi-based Markazi Maktaba Islami Publishers, which is affiliated with the Indian branch of one of the largest Islamic and political organisations in the Indian subcontinent, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.

Indian authorities banned Jamaat-e-Islami in Kashmir as an “unlawful association” in February 2019, months before New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy.

In New Delhi’s effort to shape what it calls “Naya Kashmir”, or “new Kashmir”, the territory’s people have since been largely silenced as India has shown no tolerance for any form of dissent.

Most of the books seized were authored by Abul Ala Maududi, a prominent 20th-century Islamic scholar and founder of Jamaat-e-Islami who advocated integration of state and religion.

Police teams also carried out raids in some other parts of Kashmir and conducted “stringent checks” of bookshops “to prevent the circulation of banned literature linked to Jamaat-e-Islami”, a police statement said.

The crackdown on books has been widely criticised in Kashmir.

Several Jamaat leaders, who contested a recent local election in Kashmir, called the seizure of these books “unjust, unconstitutional and a violation of fundamental rights”. In a statement, they said the seized books were legally published in New Delhi and were being lawfully distributed to bookstores across the region.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key resistance leader in Kashmir, called the police operation “condemnable” and “ridiculous”.

“Policing thought by seizing books is absurd to say the least, in the time of access to all information on virtual highways,” Mirwaiz said in a statement.