ISLAMABAD: Vice-President of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and parliamentary leader of the PPP in the Senate Sherry Rehman has condemned the Modi government’s recent ban on historic and resistance literature authored by Kashmiris, calling it “a dangerous assault on intellectual freedom and a glaring example of India’s deepening authoritarianism under the current regime.”
“This move by India is an attack on the intellectual freedom of the Kashmiri people,” Senator Sherry Rehman said in a statement on Saturday. She said that restricting space for independent thought in Kashmir reflected the Modi regime’s undemocratic and fascist ambitions.
“A country that fears books openly admits its failure,” she remarked.She stressed that no government in history has succeeded in silencing the truth through censorship.
“Suppressing history does not erase facts; it only makes them more prominent. Silencing voices and banning books is a hallmark of fascist regimes, and it exposes India’s growing intolerance towards diversity of thought,” she said.
Expressing deep concern over the long-term societal and cultural impact of such measures on Kashmir, she stated: “India’s policies have pushed Kashmiri youth towards intellectual enslavement. By seizing their books and erasing their narratives, New Delhi is attempting to wipe out Kashmiri identity, culture, and collective memory. This is not only an assault on Kashmiris but on universal principles of freedom and dignity.”
Sherry Rehman warned that such authoritarian measures would ultimately backfire. “Every attempt to suppress the truth has failed in history; India will be no exception. Bans cannot stop ideas; they only reveal the fragility and insecurity of those who impose them. Modi’s Hindutva government is damaging not only Kashmir’s future but also India’s own credibility and moral standing in the eyes of the world,” she said.She said that the international community must view this ban in the wider context of India’s systematic suppression of civil liberties in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“From shutting down internet access to imprisoning political leaders, and now targeting cultural and intellectual heritage, the Modi regime is systematically dismantling the freedom of an entire people. The world must not remain silent in the face of such blatant violations of fundamental human rights,” she urged.
Senator Sherry Rehman called on the United Nations, global human rights bodies, and democratic governments to take urgent notice and demand the reversal of the ban.
“If the international community continues to ignore such dangerous precedents, the erosion of human rights and democratic norms in the region will only accelerate,” she concluded.