Three Indian Publishers Arrested Under Anti-Terror Laws in Kashmir Over School Library Books

In a move that has sent ripples through the Indian publishing industry, the Counter Intelligence Jammu (CIJ) has arrested three book publishers on charges of publishing and distributing school library books that allegedly "glorify" separatist leaders.

The arrests of Inderpaul Singh, Amardeep Singh and Girish Arora took place on July 12, 2026, following coordinated police raids in Delhi and Jammu. A Jammu court has since remanded all three men to 10 days of police custody.

The dispute centers around two books distributed under the federally funded Samagra Shiksha education scheme to public school libraries in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir: “Personalities and Legends of J&K” by Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena, and published by Oberoi Book Service; and “Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir” by Sushant Giri, and published by Anurag Prakashan (with distribution linked to Dominant Publishers).

According to authorities, the texts contained biographical profiles that described prominent Kashmiri separatists and militants, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Masarat Alam, and Maqbool Bhat (co-founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, who was executed in 1984)—in "inappropriate" or positive terms. One of the books reportedly referred to Bhat as a "martyr."

The J&K Police registered an First Information Report (FIR) under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)—India's primary anti-terror law—alongside several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including: Section 152: Endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India; Section 196: Promoting enmity and disharmony; and Section 353: Circulating false statements or reports.

Prior to the arrests, the Jammu & Kashmir administration ordered the immediate withdrawal of approximately 251 copies of the books from school libraries in Jammu, Ramban, Udhampur, and Baramulla districts.

The political fallout was swift. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha suspended eight officials from the School Education Department and terminated a contractual employee for failing to properly vet the acquisitions. Both publishing houses, as well as the books’ authors, have been blacklisted by the government. Police are currently searching for the authors of the texts.

Following the arrests, the J&K Higher Education and School Education Departments announced a rigorous, newly centralized framework to evaluate, recommend, and periodically review all educational resources, literature, and reference materials before they can be acquired by public schools, colleges, or state libraries.

The use of anti-terror and national security laws against book publishers has sparked quiet concern among local academic and independent publishers, who fear the precedent could lead to severe self-censorship out of fear of criminal prosecution over historical or political content.