The Book You Fear is Mirror You Refuse to Look Into
The main reason why books get banned is the dissent isn’t acceptable to the government of the time.
We have highly educated people in jail for either writing an article or having made a Facebook post which had nothing but all historical facts and political realities. These educated people in jail made me feel bad and also gave me sleepless nights. They had spent years under trial for writing an article. Then my mind told me, “Look at the ones who are ruling us”. And then the picture became clear, I had to no more spend nights thinking over it.
Six years have passed since the Jammu and Kashmir was stripped off its Special State Status and downgraded to Union Territory. It’s being claimed that since the abrogation took place, everything is much better than before.
Is everything really better than before? This can be discussed in a separate article.
But, the question that needs to be answered at this point is why ban books when the “separatist” ideology has no takers in Kashmir anymore?
The books could have been allowed to be sold, and if there’s no one to take the ideology, they would be eaten by dust.
Banning books have not gone well with the people.
Why were the books deemed to be dangerous when the ideology they promote has no takers?
The banning of books has shattered all the claims of the government.
Claiming everything is normal and then banning the books, doesn’t fit together properly.
This has sent massage across the people that something in these books is not going well with the government. The books had something, which they don’t want the general public to come across.
Their words and actions don’t match.
The 25 books declared as “Forfeited”, includes the book of AG Noorani “The Kashmir Dispute - 1947-2012”. Noorani was not just a writer. He was also a lawyer, a well known legal mind, fully aware with the definition of “Secessionism” one of the reasons why the government banned the books.
The order reads that the books are being banned because they promote “Culture of Grievance and Victim hood”.
Look at the reasons.
The victimhood they don’t want to recognize.
They celebrate the verdict of Supreme Court upholding the abrogation of Article 370. But forget the words of Justice Sanjay Kaul who happens to be a Kashmiri Pandit. He in his judgement wrote:
“The Valley of Kashmir carries the historical burden and we people of Jammu and Kashmir are the heart of debate”.
He further wrote:
“Armies are meant to fight battles against enemies… Not to control law and order in the state. The entry of army created its own ground realities in the state… Men, women and the children have paid a heavy price”.
If you doubt my words the verdict of Article 370 is available online and you can read the whole judgment.
Justice Sanjay Kaul recommend the creation of Reconciliation Committee which shall address the concerns from both the sides. But his recommendation has been forgotten the way, people have been made to forget fundamental rights.
The Valley of Kashmir is not the only place where books have been banned. While India was fighting it’s battle for freedom, the British banned book in 1909 by Mahatma Gandhi, titled “Hind Sawraj or Indian Home Rule”.
Another book named “Hindu Heaven” written by Max Wyile was banned in 1934. The novel got banned because it questioned the work of American Missionaries in India.
A long list of books is available on Wikipedia with reasons why they were banned in India or the world. The main reason why books get banned is the dissent isn’t acceptable to the government of the time.
The governments have always tried that only their version is circulated and not the other side. But that’s not how the democracy functions. We have seen in the past ten years, democracy is what the BJP hates. They somehow want to get rid of this system. The only thing they love about China is its one party system, and not the way its economy functions.
The last option for a powerful man, when he is losing power, he/she resorts to (mis)using his/her power, and that’s what history has always seen.
In Kashmir, it’s clear that the facts with the government are no more enough and now they have resorted to power.
The book ban in Kashmir may or may not be able to do any good. But it has surely made it clear, “Things aren’t what they are claimed to be”.
Jammu and Kashmir needs Reconciliation, more than Rehabilitation or Relief.
[The writer, Raqif Makhdoomi is a Law Student and Human Rights Activist. Views are personal.]
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