When words can become weapons

When the Government of India recently banned 25 books for allegedly "glorifying terrorism" and "inciting secessionism" in Jammu and Kashmir, reactions followed a familiar script: charges of censorship, fears of silenced dissent, and concern about erasing uncomfortable histories.

- AHMAD WANI

But beyond the slogans lies a deeper question—what role does literature play in a conflict where narratives themselves have long been a weapon?

The roots of this contest stretch back to 1947. Pakistan's official histories downplay the tribal invasion backed by Pakistani forces that preceded Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India. Since then, a stream of state-supported messaging—from Radio Pakistan's broadcasts in the 1990s lauding slain militants, to ISI-funded social media campaigns in recent years—has sought to present Kashmir as an "unfinished" issue of Partition.

Investigations by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) have traced flows of Pakistani funding to separatist groups in Kashmir, used for protests, publications, and mobilization campaigns. Much of this material has been circulated in the guise of scholarship or cultural work, forming the backdrop against which the current book bans have been justified.

Among the 25 works banned are titles by internationally recognized writers.

Arundhati Roy's Azadi casts India's security presence in Kashmir as colonial but rarely addresses Pakistan's role in sustaining armed militancy.