Indian police in Kashmiro occupied by India (IOK) have assaulted dozens of bookstores and have seized hundreds of copies of books from an Islamic scholar, causing angry reactions of Muslim leaders.
Police said searches were based on “credible intelligence with respect to clandestine sale and the distribution of literature that promotes the ideology of a prohibited organization.”
The officers did not appoint the author, but the owners of the stores said they had seized the literature of the deceased Abul Ala Maududi, founder of the Jamaat-E-Islami political party.
Combat groups, which demand the freedom of Iok or their fusion with Pakistan, have been fighting the Indian forces for decades, with tens of thousands killed in the conflict.
The Hindu-Nationalist government of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, prohibited Jamaat-E-Isami branch in 2019 as an “illegal association.”
Nueva Delhi renewed the ban last year for what they said were “activities against security, integrity and sovereignty” of the nation.
Clightes officers began the raids on Saturday in the main city of Srinagar, before launching book seizures in other cities in the Muslim majority region.
“They (the police) came and took all the copies of the books written by Abul Ala Maududi saying that these books were prohibited,” said an owner of a bookstore in Srinagar AFPasking not to be named.
“It was found that these books violate legal regulations, and strict measures are being taken against those in possession of such material,” police said in a statement.
Police said the searches were made “to avoid the circulation of prohibited literature linked to Jamaat-E-Islami.”
The raids caused anger among the party supporters.
“The seized books promote good moral values and responsible citizenship,” Shamim Ahmed Thokar said.
Umar Farooq, the main clergy of Kashmir and an outstanding leader who advocated the right to self -determination, condemned the police action.
“Writing Islamic literature and taking them from bookstores is ridiculous,” Farooq said in a statement, noting that literature was available online.
“The surveillance of surveillance by seizing books is absurd, to say at least, at the time of access to all information on virtual roads,” he added.
Critics and many IOK residents say that civil liberties were drastically reduced after the Government of the Government of Modi imposed the direct government in 2019 by discarding the partial autonomy constitutionally enshrined of Iok.
