Jk School Library Books Withdrawn Uapa Fir Publisher Premises Searched Separatism Row
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Indian ExpressVerified Publisher
After the Jammu and Kashmir government withdrew two books from its school libraries on the grounds that they contained highly inappropriate content on separatism, the counter-intelligence wing of the J&K Police conducted searches at the Jammu premises of the p After the Jammu and Kashmir government withdrew two books from its school libraries on the grounds that they contained highly inappropriate content on separatism, the counter-intelligence wing of...
After the Jammu and Kashmir government withdrew two books from its school libraries on the grounds that they contained “highly inappropriate content” on separatism, the counter-intelligence wing of the J&K Police conducted searches at the Jammu premises of the publisher of one of the books after an FIR was registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Meanwhile, J&K Education Minister Sakina Itoo on Sunday described the matter as “unfortunate” and a “deliberate conspiracy”, saying that strict action would be taken against those found involved in the supply of such books to schools. She said “suspension orders have been issued and an enquiry ordered” into the matter.
On Saturday, eight officials from the school department were suspended, and one contractual employee was terminated from service after the row broke out.
The withdrawn books, ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’ by Hilal Ahmed and Santosh Meena, and ‘Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir’ by Dr Sushant Giri, were published by Oberoi Book Service, Jammu, and Anurag Prakashan, Delhi, and supplied to school libraries as part of Samagra Shiksha for higher secondary classes.
According to an order by Ram Niwas Sharma, Commissioner/Secretary, School Education Department, the books contained references with the “potential to create law-and-order issues”, and their selection reflected “serious negligence, dereliction of duty and lack of due diligence”.
The order also blacklisted the authors and their publishing houses from publishing any other material in the Union Territory.
The Leader of the Opposition in the J&K Assembly, Sunil Sharma of the BJP, sought a high-level investigation into the matter and described the circulation of controversial books as infusing “academic subversion” and to “initiate academic jihad”. The ruling National Conference’s provincial president, Rattan Lal Gupta, said that it was a deliberate attempt by vested interests to damage the image of an elected government.