SRINAGAR: J&Ok’s governing Nationwide Convention (NC) on Friday decried banning books as “unlucky and deeply ill-conceived”, days after LG Manoj Sinha-led residence division banned 25 titles, together with some by Booker-prize profitable creator Arundhati Roy and constitutionalist AG Noorani.The NC assertion got here with a reassurance that it was attempting to see how the ban could possibly be revoked underneath the Union Territory’s (UT) system of governance the place the LG oversees such issues. International rights organisation Amnesty additionally questioned the transfer. The house division has described the motion as a part of an ongoing crackdown on publications allegedly selling secessionist ideologies, glorifying terrorism, or disseminating distorted historic narratives.Chief minister Omar Abdullah responded to accusations that he had ordered the ban. “Get your info proper earlier than you name me a coward, you ignoramus. The ban has been imposed by the LG utilizing the one division he formally controls – the House Division. I’ve by no means banned books & I by no means would,” Omar posted on X, responding to the allegations.Following Tuesday’s order underneath part 98 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, police had on Thursday seized allegedly “subversive” books from shops and literary venues, together with Chinar e-book pageant on the banks of Dal Lake.NC spokesman Tanvir Sadiq requested “why we’re so afraid of differing opinions”. “Historical past exhibits that banning books solely fuels curiosity, individuals wish to know why one thing is banned, and readership typically will increase in consequence. Silencing or intimidating opinions by no means labored and it received’t work now,” Sadiq mentioned.Amnesty India confused that of the 25 banned books, together with Roy’s Azadi, many have been written by revered journalists, historians, feminists, and peace students, and these weren’t “terror manuals” however “important voices”. “Censoring books on the premise of an govt notification with out due course of and judicial oversight doesn’t deliver peace; it silences dissent. When govts concern concepts, it tells you extra concerning the state than the speech,” Amnesty mentioned in an announcement.Thursday’s seizures included copies of A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 by Anuradha Bhasin, The Kashmir Dispute, 1947–2012 by Noorani, and Kashmir on the Crossroads by Sumantra Bose.