A recent case of censorship involving imported Buddhist books has sparked backlash, with authorities accused of overstepping boundaries and veering toward religious conservatism.

Translator Sherab Wong revealed in a Facebook post on Monday evening (July 28) that he found copies of the Illustrated Heart Sutra (圖解心經) at Cite Book Garden in Kuala Lumpur that had been partially blacked out by the Customs Department.

“A section depicting the Heart Sutra’s Twelve Nidānas was...