Bengali Books Proscribed Under the Raj is an English translation of Sisir Kar's Bengali book British Shasoney Bajeyapto Bangla Boi published in 1988 by Ananda Publishers Pvt. Ltd. it analyses the historical background of the national movement in Bengal and the events that led to the proscription of a large number of Bengali publications. The dread of the free diffusion of knowledge had always prompted the panicky government to impose restrictions on press freedom. The first Press Act was introduced in 1823 by the then Governor General John Adams, when the avowed policy of the government had been to keep the natives of India in the profoundest possible state of barbarism and darkness.