An uproar has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir over the withdrawal of thousands of books from government libraries after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah publicly distanced himself from the decision, saying elected representatives have no say in the matter under the current system. But unfortunately, in the current system, we in the elected government don’t get to decide these things. Therefore, we just have to wait for that situation to change, and then we’ll take a fresh look at what’s happening”.
Omar said ” “I have my own views on whether books should be banned or not.
The unfortunate part that is for the BJP Jammu and Kashmir’s political history is a major issue, so their constant effort has been to erase and tear apart the history that existed here. This is part of the process of de-legitimization and penalization, how we can penalize Kashmiris and Kashmiri Muslims. the legitimacy that the people of Jammu and Kashmir gave to this house should have been upheld by the elected government by raising its voice, and there should have been a discussion in the house Although the size of this house is quite small. This would have sent a clear message back to the BJP and the central government that whatever you are doing through your proxies or the LG administration, the assembly here will not allow it.”
Because the people of Jammu and Kashmir gave legitimacy to this vote and this house, regarding the elected government’s statements, I think it is quite unfortunate to express helplessness in every matter. PDP MLA Aga Syed Muntazir (Budgam) said: “we must understand that after August 5, 2019, a process of penalization and de-legitimization began here. Their attempt has always been that Kashmir’s history should start fresh from August 5, 2019, rather than what happened in the past or in retrospect.
Education Minister Sakina Itoo, after informing the House about book ban details today said “You might remember yesterday that the Chief Minister talked about this, and as far as the question of these books is concerned, a committee was formed by our government even before. That committee looks at these books, this is their domain, not ours, but if intentionally, something that the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the children of Jammu and Kashmir want to read, want to see, if the members of the committee ban it, then that is wrong; that is an injustice. Opposition parties immediately seized on what they described as a contradiction between the Chief Minister’s media remarks and the government’s formal reply in the Assembly. It would have been better if the honorable Chief Minister had written in his reply as well that if it were up to him, he wouldn’t have taken this step. He alleged that there is no doubt, the LG and the BJP are responsible for this; they want RSS-infixation here, they want us to read, listen to, and see literature of their choice here. But there is also no doubt that our elected government here is facilitating it and giving them an opportunity.”
Earlier, on the floor of the Assembly, the Education Department headed by Minister Sakina Itoo informed the House in reply to a question by Awami Ittehad Party MLA Sheikh Khurshid that around 21,81,582 books and publications had been screened across Jammu and Kashmir. Of these, 4,812 books were taken out of circulation. The figure includes 518 copies of formally banned titles and 4,249 other books identified as containing objectionable material during the review. The government also stated that 518 copies of 19 titles banned under S.O. 203 had been removed. But their ministry, the Higher Education Ministry, accepted that they have removed more than 4,000 books from government libraries, and they said that we scrutinized approximately 23 lakh (2.3 million) books.
AIP MLA Langate sheikh Khursheed the one who raised the question in assembly remained critic to Omar and his Government AIP MLA Sheikh Abdul Khurshid said: However, I want to ask the honorable Chief Minister, I want to request him, that you say one thing when you come inside the House, but outside in the media, you say something else.
