The row over a controversial book in Jammu and Kashmir’s government school libraries escalated on Saturday after Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha suspended eight School Education Department officials, removed a contractual employee, and ordered a departmental inquiry into the selection and procurement of two library books found to contain “inappropriate content”.The LG also blacklisted the books’ authors and publishers and directed the withdrawal of their publications from across the Union Territory, following a political storm over allegations that one of the books glorified terrorists, separatists and stone-pelters.The action came amid BJP allegations that the book promoted ‘academic jihad’, with the party demanding an immediate ban on the publication and the removal of Education Minister Sakeena Itoo. The Congress has also sought a ban on the controversial book and Itoo’s dismissal.According to PTI, addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma alleged that ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’, distributed under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, was intended to “poison young minds” and revive separatism by using the education system to propagate a Pakistan-sponsored narrative. Sharma claimed the book portrays individuals such as hanged JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Shah, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Masarat Alam Bhat in a positive light. He also objected to references describing the region as “Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK)” and “India-held Kashmir.””The book distributed by the Jammu and Kashmir Education Department and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir across numerous libraries in the Union Territory glorifies convicts, murderers, terrorists, separatists, and stone-pelters,” Sharma said.”It is deeply regrettable that the Jammu and Kashmir Education Department has distributed this book to schools under the logo of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. This is a grave offence,” he added.The BJP leader accused the ruling National Conference of providing political patronage to a separatist narrative and sought immediate action against those responsible.He also demanded the removal of the Education Minister and a high-level investigation into the matter.”Those responsible — including the author, the publisher, and the committee of experts that approved the book– should face criminal proceedings. A case should be registered against them, treating it as a seditious offence, and they should be arrested immediately and proceeded against in accordance with the law,” Sharma said.He further alleged that the publication lacked educational value and had been designed to spread “a poisonous narrative driven by a separatist ideology and a jihadist mindset”.Referring to previous BJP campaigns against similar publications, Sharma said the party had earlier facilitated the banning of 25 books allegedly containing material against India’s sovereignty and urged the government and investigating agencies to take immediate action against the current publication.
