On August 8, 2025, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government issued an order banning the sale, distribution, and consumption of 25 books on the history of J&K and its politics.

Each of the books, authored by acclaimed scholars, writers, and journalists, discussed events surrounding the partition of India and the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The directive from J&K authorities declared that the books propagated “false narrative and secessionism” and promoted a culture of grievance and victimhood. The directive was followed by police raids on bookstores in Srinagar. Critics have denounced the ban as contributing to the “erasure of memory” in Kashmir.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about state censorship and interference with institutional autonomy and academic freedom. While national officials have a right to express their views about the content of research, teaching, and discourse, they have an obligation to refrain from interference into the selection of that content. State censorship and threatened retaliation or sanctions against individuals or institutions undermine university autonomy, academic freedom, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://freespeechcollective.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Kashmir-book-ban-notification.pdf
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/8/9/attack-on-peoples-memory-kashmirs-book-ban-sparks-new-censorship-fears
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/07/india-bans-books-jammu-kashmir-arundhati-roy