'Erasing historical facts': India orders massive crackdown on books in Kashmir's libraries

'Erasing historical facts': India orders massive crackdown on books in Kashmir's libraries Submitted by MEE contributor on Mon, 07/27/2026 - 09:29 Scholars say sweeping purge of school and public archives marks another blow to intellectual freedom in the region A shopkeeper waits for customers at a bookshop in Srinagar, 7 August 2025 (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP) Off Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have ordered a multi-level audit across all public libraries and educational institutions to purge books and digital archives flagged as "anti-national" or "glorifying terrorism". The move has drawn sharp reaction from scholars and residents of Kashmir, who argue that the region’s academic freedom is being systematically destroyed. In an order issued by the authorities earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir administration, which is directly appointed by New Delhi, called for “an audit of all books, journals, supplementary reading material, reference books, periodicals and other educational resources available in the libraries or learning resource centres.