Police seize books promoting ideology of banned organisation

A day after Srinagar Police seized hundreds of books in Srinagar for promoting the ideology of a banned organization, police in north Kashmir’s Handwara on Saturday seized multiple books during inspections.

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A police spokesperson said in a well-coordinated and legally supervised operation, stringent checks were conducted across various bookshops to prevent the circulation of “banned literature.”

“Checking was conducted as per the provisions of the law, with special emphasis on sensitive areas such as Kralgund, Villgam, Qalamabad, Handwara town,” he added.

The spokesperson said several bookshops were inspected and multiple copies of banned books were recovered and subsequently seized.

“These books were found to be in violation of legal regulations and strict action is being taken against those found in possession of such material. The operation was aimed at curbing the spread of unlawful content that could disturb public order,” he stated.

On Saturday, Srinagar Police in a statement said based on credible intelligence regarding the clandestine sale and distribution of literature promoting the ideology of a banned organization, police conducted a search in Srinagar, leading to the seizure of 668 books.

Police said legal action has been initiated under Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNSS).

The police action, has, however been condemned by political leaders. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “Cracking down on Islamic literature and seizing them from bookstores while condemnable is ridiculous.”

“Policing thought by seizing books is absurd to say the least, in the time of access to all information on virtual highways,” he said.

PDP leader Iltija Mufti said days after a security review meeting in Delhi, vicious raids were conducted throughout book stores in Srinagar. “Under the garb of ‘security’ all sorts of Kafkaesque oppressive measures are being unleashed on Kashmiris. Now even the freedom to read & consume information is being violated. Are we merely sheep or cattle that need to be herded?,” she wrote on X.