SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): The Government of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) has removed over 4,0oo books from the colleges and libraries across the region, declaring them “objectionable”.
The government in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday informed that 4249 books have been withdrawn from circulation, including 3996 from Kashmir and 253 from the Jammu division. 518 banned books were also withdrawn from educational institutions.
It also said that a total of 21,81,582 books and publications have been examined to date, including 9,32,941 in Jammu and 12,48,641 in Kashmir, Kashmir News Observer reported.
Mirwaiz expresses concern
In a statement shared on X, Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Dr. Maulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq has expressed concern over the removal of books from educational institutions across Jammu and Kashmir.
Mirwaiz said the removal of such a large number of books was both “disturbing and unfortunate” and called for the titles of the books and reasons for their removal to be made public.
“What exactly made these books objectionable? The titles and reason for their removal must be made public,” he asked.
Farooq stated that academic freedom in universities and colleges and access to diverse perspectives are fundamental to education and the evolution of society.
“Attempts to ideologically regulate what students can and cannot read impoverish learning and critical thought. By withdrawing these books, whose agenda is the elected government implementing — its own or someone else’s?”
“People deserve clarity on that,” he asserted.
Mirwaiz said that complete transparency is indispensable in such an important matter related to educational institutions and access to knowledge, and the people have the right to know on what basis the decision to remove such a large number of books was finally taken.
