Police in disputed Kashmir raid bookstores, seizing books related to Islamic group

SRINAGAR, India — Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir raided bookstores and seized hundreds of books linked to a major Islamic organization in the disputed region, where strict controls on the press have escalated in recent years. Indian authorities banned Jamaat-e-Islami in Kashmir as an “unlawful association” in Feb. 2019, months before New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in Aug. 2019. More books were seized as police teams also carried out raids in some other parts of Kashmir and conducted “stringent checks” of bookshops “to prevent the circulation of banned literature linked to Jamaat-e-Islami,” a police statement said on Saturday. Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the most recent crackdown “reeks of naivete” and potentially could give such literature new traction by making Kashmir’s alienated youth curious about the works. Several Jamaat leaders who contested a recent local election in Kashmir called the seizure of these books “unjust, unconstitutional and a violation of fundamental rights.” In a statement, they said the seized books were legally published in New Delhi and were being lawfully distributed to bookstores across the region.