'I'm sure those few terrorists who are continuing to operate in the Valley are not reading books.'
'Are they trying to tell us that there are certain people who first intellectualise themselves and then go about picking up guns?'
'It is absolutely absurd.'
Kashmiri journalist and author Anuradha Bhasin dismisses the charges against her banned book A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 as "absurd" and "senseless", asserting that neither her work nor others on the banned -- in all 25 books have been banned -- list glorify terrorism or promote secessionism.
In a candid interview with Prasanna D Zore/Rediff, Bhasin calls the Jammu and Kashmir administration's ban -- which functions under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's authority -- on the 25 books a deliberate attempt to suppress dissent and erase counter-narratives under the guise of maintaining peace.
Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, similar to Delhi and Puducherry. It includes the regions of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley.
Criticism of the State, Bhasin insists, is not sedition -- it is essential for democracy. Her book, she adds, is rooted in research, not ideology or provocation.
Does your book A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 'promote false narrative and secessionism, glorify terrorism and mislead Kashmiri youth'?
Definitely not. Any books that are published involve rigorous research and work, and even through the whole publishing process as we work with publishers, each and every detail is authenticated.
In the case of Kashmir, there is a double layer of legal vetting to ensure that everything is right. Publishers are already wary of what is published about Kashmir.
So I can vouch for my book, and I can even vouch for many of the books listed here that I have read. None of these give a false narrative or glorify terrorism as the charges suggest.
It's absolutely absurd, senseless, and has no basis in fact.
My book is not even about terrorism. It is about Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and what happened. It is based on what was existing in the public domain, based on interviews with people, and based on analysis of government actions and their policies.
It is critical of the government, but criticism of the government does not automatically become glorification of terrorism. Criticism of the government is a democratic right and cannot be construed as a false narrative. In fact, it is based on rigorous research.
The books listed are about history. It seems very absurd, very whimsical that a few books have been picked up. We don't know the reason. I doubt if those who have banned the books have even read them.
Why was your book banned only in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir?
Obviously, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir administration does not have jurisdiction over the rest of the country. So it's banned in the erstwhile state, probably just the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, not even Ladakh. There is this whole absurdity about the entire action.
Why it has been done seems to be in line with the government policy of erasing all counter-narratives so that only the official narrative remains. They've already successfully silenced local journalism. If you see, barring a few journalists who occasionally report something meaningful, local journalism is only full of front pages that read like advertisements of the government.
Having done that, they want to erase all knowledge, all information about Kashmir that they are uncomfortable with. They want to crack down on dissent and counter-narratives.
An additional reason is probably that they want to induce fear in the minds of Kashmiris so that people are even scared of buying and reading books, and maybe use this as a pretext for raids across parts of the Valley to ensure these books are not available.
This becomes a pretext to further exacerbate the surveillance state that they have created in the last few years.
Apart from your book, 24 other books have been banned for allegedly disturbing peace. Yet the Government of India states normalcy has returned to Kashmir. What does this contradiction reveal?
On one hand, they are saying there is peace and terrorism has been brought to naught. How come these books are being banned then?
I'm sure those few militant groups or terrorists who are continuing to operate in the Valley are not reading books. Are they trying to tell us that there are certain kinds of people who first intellectualise themselves and then go about picking up guns? It is absolutely absurd. There is no sense in this logic, besides being a contradiction of their claims.
Is peace in the Valley real?
The Valley is much calmer than it earlier was, but calm and peace are two different things. Peace comes with justice. Peace comes with the ability to speak freely.
Since there is immense fear in the Valley and all parts of Jammu and Kashmir, when people are unable to talk freely, when civil society disappears, when media disappears -- these are signs that tell us about the kind of peace that is existing.
The calm is artificial. It has been maintained through an all-pervasive surveillance system that is in place.