Jammu and Kashmir Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday suspended eight officials from the School Education Department and removed a contractual employee amid a row over allegations that two textbooks distributed in government school libraries “glorified” convicted separatist leaders and terrorists as great figures and legends.
The School Education Department said in its order that the books – “J&K Personalities and Legends”, written by Hilal Ahmed and Santosh Meena and published by Oberoi Book Service in Jammu; and “Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir”, written by Sushant Giri and published by Anurag Prakashan, Delhi – were withdrawn on Friday. Authors and publishers are blocked.
The books allegedly glorified separatists and terrorists Maqbool Bhat, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Masarat Alam and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Hizb ut-Tahrir was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the contents of the textbooks.
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Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and BJP MLA, Sunil Sharma, described the act as “academic jihad” aimed at polluting young minds.
Noting the matter, a government order said: “The Department has come to the knowledge that these books contain highly inappropriate content and it is quite clear that there has been serious negligence, dereliction of duty and lack of proper due diligence on the part of the members of the Series 4 Subcommittee and supervisory officers while recommending such books containing content relating to separatism which has the potential to create law and order situations.”
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As a result, eight officers and supervising employees of the School Education Department under Rule 31 (1) (a) Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1956, have been placed under suspension with immediate effect, it added.
Ashwani Kumar, Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary) of the Power Development Department, has been appointed to conduct an investigation.
