As Kashmir varsities cull ‘objectionable’ books, fear of losing academic rigour grows among scholars
Kashmir University and regional educational institutions are screening and removing books deemed 'objectionable' or 'anti-India' following official directives. Scholars and faculty express concern that this culling process will harm academic rigor and encourage self-censorship.
Why it matters
The situation raises significant concerns regarding academic freedom and the influence of political directives on educational curricula and research.
Over 50 academic departments of the Kashmir University (KU) and Valley-wide colleges and schools are carrying out a comprehensive screening of books to remove literature suspected to contain ‘anti-India’ or ‘pro-separatist’ content, in the wake of official orders. Meanwhile, J&K regional parties reacted sharply to the development.
KU’s three main departments of Political Science, Law, and History are the most affected. “We have been identifying problematic books for the past two days. The returned books will go to KU’s central library,” said a senior professor, on the condition of anonymity.
Many Heads of Departments are grappling with the vague official order, which says all “problematic books should be removed without any titles or authors identified”.
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