Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir: It was 13 February 2025, and business as usual for most booksellers in Srinagar’s commercial hub, Lal Chowk. A prominent bookseller and his staff had just finished lunch and were about to attend to their waiting customers when four men in civilian clothes walked in, holding a list of books.
They asked if those books were available.
“Before we could respond, they cleared the store of all customers and shut both the front and back doors. They said that they are from the police,” said W*, the bookstore owner, who asked not to be identified. “We were stunned and scared. Out of fear, we didn’t ask any questions and simply cooperated.”
They laid a sheet on the floor and ordered the staff to bring out every copy of the books on their list. “They said they had instructions from top authorities to seize all the listed books,” said W.
The seized books were written by the Islamic scholar Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, the founder of the pan-south asia group Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), whose Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) chapter was banned by the Indian government, in 2019, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, for alleged “activities against the security, integrity and sovereignty of the nation” and “fuelling secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Maududi’s opposition to the political worldview of secularism and belief in political Islam has caused his writing to resonate with the secessionist movement in Kashmir. It has placed it at loggerheads with the state.
X*, another small bookseller in the city, raided by the police on the same day, said they seized the same books.
Both booksellers confirmed that the confiscated titles, all authored by Maududi, included Khilafat o Malukiyat (Caliphate and Monarchy), Fundamentals of Islam, Purdah (The Veil), Khutbaat (Sermons), and Towards Understanding Islam.
Police, following the raids, issued a statement that said, “Based on credible intelligence regarding the clandestine sale and distribution of literature promoting the ideology of a banned organisation, the police conducted a search in Srinagar, leading to the seizure of 668 books. Legal action has been initiated under section 126 of the BNSS.”
Section 126 (security for keeping the peace) in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, deals with the likelihood of “a breach of the peace” or disturbances of “public tranquillity”.
Article 14 sought comment from the spokesperson of the J&K police via WhatsApp; from J&K police headquarters and the senior superintendent of police, Srinagar, via email on 29 April. We asked why the book stores were raided, how section 126 of the BNSS applies to this case, and their comments on the books in question being available online.
They did not respond. We will update this story if they do.
‘Wider Implication Is To Curb Freedom Of Speech’
Habeel Iqbal, a lawyer from South Kashmir’s Shopian district, questioned the purpose of such raids.
Iqbal said such censorship appeared pointless when the literature seized, deemed inflammatory or promoting supposedly undesirable ideologies, is openly available online.
“Its (the seizure of the books) purpose is something else—it is controlling the narrative,” said Iqbal. “The wider implication is to curb freedom of speech and expression.”
V*, a Delhi-based lawyer who practices in the Supreme Court, believed that there is no legal basis to seize a book not proscribed by the government.
He questioned the section under which the raids and seizures were conducted in Srinagar. “I don’t think the police can seize books under Section 126 of the BNSS, as claimed in their statement,” V said.
Explaining the prescribed procedure required for seizing books, he said, “The government can declare a book forfeited by issuing a notification under section 98 of the BNSS. Only after such a declaration may the police seize the book."
Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, gives state governments “the power to declare certain publications forfeited and to issue search warrants”.
Soutick Banerjee, a Delhi-based lawyer, said such an act required an authorised ban on such literature.
“Unless the publication of a book has been banned under relevant provisions of law, by issuance of a reasoned order, there is no legal basis for the police to impose a blanket ban or seize books from the market,” he said
Banerjee said literature can only be seized if the State can establish a link to a previous illegal act or potential one.
“If there is no FIR which demonstrates a proximate link between the literature and any proximate chance or close and direct nexus to incitement of violence, then seizure of such books is an unreasonable restriction on the freedom of speech, thought and expression,” Banerjee said.
“Policing minds where there is no criminality has no place under the Indian constitution, whose fundamental rights apply equally to all states and union territories,” said Banerjee.
“Nobody Is Ever Quite Sure What Is Being Investigated’
Advocate Shahrukh Alam, a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court, said that authorities could always cite “national security” to raid book stores, investigate, and seize books. She said that everything can be included within the purview of national security, especially if it is “pre-emptive” or seeks to investigate a not yet fully formed conspiracy.
She said that such investigations could be “broad-based, as much of a roving inquiry, as intangible, and as nebulous as authorities would like them to be”.
“Nobody is ever quite sure what is being investigated, what is offensive, or cause for legal trouble,” Alam said. “Within the very broad-based mandate of national security matters, anything can be found to be suspect: Kashmiri students in Delhi, certain books and literature, social media posts, analysis of current policy, or criticism of the government.”
According to Alam, one can argue that this incident, which she referred to as "casting of a fishing net", is “overbroad and arbitrary”, but the authorities cite security concerns, and courts often endorse their view.
Alam said that, at times, authorities proceeded based on an open-ended FIR based on intelligence reports about an unspecified conspiracy.
“The raid in a Srinagar bookshop was likely preceded by one such open-ended FIR, which may not have named the specific bookshop or the literature available there, but rather referred generally to some intelligence regarding the circulation of extremist material or ideologies,” said Alam. “That may have started a broad investigation, including raids.”
“If that's the case, then the authorities would have a legal justification for the raid,” said Alam. “Yet what the police seize as 'evidence of extremist ideology' is always a little absurd, a little exaggerated.”
‘Chilling Effect On Expression’
India has had a long history of banning books. Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the 1928 novel by D H Lawrence, was banned for obscenity. Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses was banned from being imported in 1988, for hurting religious sentiments.
The ban on Rushdie’s novel no longer stands.
Books have also been withdrawn from publication on the grounds of defamation.
Jitender Bhargava’s The Descent of Air India, originally published in 2013, was withdrawn by Bloomsbury in January 2014 after a defamation suit was filed by former Aviation Minister Praful Patel, yet it is currently available on e-commerce websites.
More recently, in November 2022, the Manipur government banned a book titled The Complexity Called Manipur: Roots, Perceptions and Reality, on the grounds that it contained “grossly misleading and scandalous” content that could ignite communal disharmony.
Limitations on writers’ freedom of expression are allowed on the following grounds of “reasonable restrictions” under Article 19(2) of the Constitution: the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, and incitement of an offence.
Srinagar-based political scientist Noor Ahmad Baba said measures such as raids and book bans were unlikely to meaningfully restrict access to the targeted literature.
According to Baba, these actions aligned with the post-2019 policy framework in J&K, under which, he claims, “certain freedoms have been curtailed for security considerations.”
"In the digital age, these bans are largely symbolic. Much of the material is readily available online," said Baba. He added that the real impact is largely “psychological and economic, particularly affecting local booksellers who may face losses”.
Tahir Sayeed, a Srinagar-based columnist and former spokesperson of the People's Democratic Party, said the raids reflected a “deliberate strategy to control Kashmir’s intellectual and historical narrative”.
“These actions suggest an intent of the state to suppress narratives that challenge its authority or offer alternative ideological perspectives,” said Sayeed. “Booksellers' silence reveals a pervasive fear, signalling a broader chilling effect on expression.”
The confiscated titles, such as Khilafat o Malukiyat are available online on e-commerce platform Amazon and Towards Understanding Islam on Flipkart.
The Raid
During the raid on W’s shop, the police seized several books, all authored by Maududi.
On the same day, around 3 pm, within hours of the initial raid, the station house officers (SHOs) from two nearby police stations arrived at the bookstore.
“They observed the situation but didn’t mistreat us,” said W.
W, whose shop sells a variety of books in addition to those by Maududi, said that the SHOs noticed a counter near the display with several pamphlets and books—all by Maulana Maududi—and one of the SHOs commented in Kashmiri, “All the books here seem to be by Maulana (Maududi) only.”
“We have clear orders from the top to remove all his literature from bookstores. Not a single pamphlet should remain,” the SHO told W, according to the bookstore owner.
W said that after their business was raided, they learned that other bookstores in the city were also searched, and books by Maulana Maududi were seized.
“Out of fear, we removed every single copy, even Tafheem-ul-Quran, which was not listed, from our racks and counters,” said W, the bookseller.
X said that police had given him a list of Maududi titles to be seized during the raid on his shop. Many of these titles are popular reading for students in Kashmir, scholars of comparative religion, political thinkers, and those with an interest in Islamic philosophy and reformist thought.
We tried to speak with the manager of another bookshop in the vicinity, but he refused to comment, citing concerns about family. He, however, confirmed, "Police came in civilian clothes and took some books on 13 February in the afternoon. That’s all we can say.”
Even though his shop was not raided, Y*, a bookstore manager in Lal Chowk, told us that Maulana’s Tafheem-ul-Quran was not seized—only other books deemed “hard for the state”.
Aftermath
The next day, several booksellers, three of whom we spoke to, were summoned to the closest police stations to their shops, from where they were taken to a magistrate at the deputy commissioner's office in Srinagar.
They were informed that the case against them was ‘minor’ and were warned not to sell such books again and advised to remain cautious.
“We didn’t approach the court. Our families were worried—so were we,” said W. “That entire month, due to the disruption, I couldn’t even manage to pay the salaries to the staff.”
X said that some major bookstores, where books were seized, were later summoned by the magistrate and made to sign a bond pledging not to sell the listed books.
Z*, another bookshop owner whose store was raided, told us that they were not allowed to talk about the raid or the incident.
"There’s no legal procedure that is followed in Kashmir—everyone knows that,” said Z. “They warned us not to sell such books without any notice."
A bookseller in one of the districts of Northern Kashmir confirmed to us that they, too, were warned by the police not to sell literature about the Jammat.
Though not all shops were raided, the atmosphere created by the initial seizures instilled fear among the bookselling community.
“The police didn’t visit every store, but the message was loud and clear. That fear made many of us self-censor,” said X. “It’s a form of indirect censorship, curtailing academic freedom and freedom of expression. No one wants to stock or sell these titles, even though Maulana Maududi is a critical figure whose work is widely recognised and read.”
Increased Demand
A manager at one of the bookstores saw this as curbing civil liberties and a widespread effort to suppress academic freedom and literature in Kashmir.
Yet, the seizure of the books might have had the opposite effect, with booksellers reporting an increase in demand for them.
“Ironically, after the seizures, more people came to our shop looking for those very books,” he said.
Other booksellers agreed.
“Ironically, after the incident, demand for these books surged across Kashmir. Many people came to the store looking specifically for these books,” said W in April 2025. “We told them the books are banned in Kashmir—but they can still be ordered online or bought from Delhi.”
None of the books seized were published in J&K. Delhi-based publishers produced all of them.
“Ever since the seizures, the demand for these books has gone up,” said X. “Many people have visited our stores specifically asking for them.”
Maududi & Jamaat-e-Islami
Maududi and his work have had a considerable influence on the revival of Islamic political thought, particularly in the Indian subcontinent.
In his book The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution, political scientist Vali Nasr wrote, "Jamaat-e-Islami provided the most coherent and organised articulation of political Islam in South Asia. Maududi’s ideas not only shaped Islamist politics in Pakistan but also influenced Islamic movements in Bangladesh and India, setting the framework for faith-based political mobilisation.”
Though he was a strong voice in favour of Islamic rule in Pakistan, Maududi vehemently opposed the partition of India.
The J&K chapter of JeI (JIJK) was founded in 1953. Despite questioning J&K’s accession to India, it was part of mainstream politics in the valley, with influential members like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, elected to the state assembly in 1972, 1977 and 1987.
It also had a social impact in the region, founding and running over 389 schools, which were shut down after the 2019 ban.
It fought the infamous 1987 elections as part of the Muslim United Front. After the elections, which were reportedly rigged, the valley saw the rise of a pro-freedom movement, followed by violence. Subsequently, the JIJK shunned mainstream politics and became a constituent and influential member of the pro-freedom Hurriyat Conference.
The JIJK was banned in the region in 2019, and many of its members were put in prison.
The Books
Maududi, in the most famous of the seized books, Khilafat o Malukiyat (Caliphate and Monarchy) delved into aspects of the caliphate and differentiated it from historic Muslim kingships, while tracing the circumstances and events that led to the evolution of Islamic government.
Another of Maududi's seized books, Fundamentals of Islam, summarises Islamic beliefs and practices, emphasising the significance of the Quran, adherence to divine law, and the need for a full Islamic way of life.
Maududi advocated for a comprehensive approach to Islam and presented Islam not as a religion, but as encompassing every aspect of life, including religious, social, and political components, which challenges the contemporary social, political and economic setup.
John L Esposito, an American academic and professor of Religion, International Affairs, and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, in The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, compared Maududi’s influence on political Islam to that of Marx on Communism.
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, American-Iranian political scientist and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, in his book Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism, wrote, “No Islamic thinker in the modern era has had as profound an impact as Maududi. His ideas became the intellectual foundation for Islamist movements from Egypt to Indonesia."
However, A Faizur Rahman, the secretary-general of the Islamic Forum for the Promotion of Moderate Thought, a Chennai-based organisation working to promote secularism and communal harmony, in October 2022, described Maududi's interpretation of Islam as "narrow" and his writings as "supremacist".
In 2022, Aligarh Muslim University dropped Maududi’s books from the Department of Islamic Studies syllabus after 25 academics wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Modi claiming the curriculum was “brazenly Jihadi".
The Pakistan-based modernist Islamic scholar Fazal Rehman Malik said that Maududi’s writings were “shallow” and crafted “only to bag the attention of muddled young men craving an imagined faith-driven Utopia.”
*Name changed on request
(Hamaad Habibullah is an independent journalist based in New Delhi & Ishtayaq Rasool is an independent journalist from Kashmir.)
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