The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor administration has suspended eight officials and blacklisted two authors and publishers after two library books were found to contain ‘pro-separatist’ content. The books, titled ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’ and ‘Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir’, were published under the Samagra Shiksha initiative for government schools. ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’ contained a detailed write-up about separatist J&K Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in 1984 for seeking independence for Kashmir. The book described Bhat as ‘shaheed’ (martyr) and mentioned his exfiltration to Pakistan as ‘the journey on that road to great sacrifice’.
Another chapter in the book described Hashim Qureshi, who hijacked an Indian Airlines plane flying from Srinagar to Lahore in 1971, as a ‘pro-Pakistan Kashmiri separatist leader’ and one of the founding members of the JKLF. The book also had chapters on other separatist leaders, including Shabir Shah and Masarat Alam Bhat. The administration has termed the inclusion of the content as ‘serious negligence, dereliction of duty and lack of proper due diligence’ by members of the sub-committee and supervisory officers. ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’ was authored by Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena, and published by Oberoi Book Service, Jammu. ‘Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir’ was written by Dr Sushant Giri and published by Anurag Prakashan, Delhi.
Officials said 123 copies of ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’ were supplied to the Jammu division and 128 copies to the Kashmir division, while 128 copies of ‘Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir’ were supplied in Jammu and Baramulla districts. Besides suspending eight officials, including the authors, a Computer Assistant assisting the Coordinator Library has been disengaged. The government order said the authors and publishers are banned and blacklisted in J&K with immediate effect, and any printed material authored and/or published by them shall also be withdrawn from the Union Territory.
An inquiry has also been constituted into the matter and a report will be submitted to the government within 30 days. The books sparked protests from several organisations in Jammu, with BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma accusing the National Conference government of promoting ‘academic jihad’. Sharma alleged that the publication promotes the narrative of separatist leaders such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Masrat Alam, Shabir Shah, and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and is an attempt to spread hatred against India and its armed forces.
Jammu and Kashmir Minister for School Education Sakeena Itoo said the government will take the strictest possible action against everyone responsible for the controversial books found in government school libraries, asserting that any conspiracy aimed at influencing young minds will not be tolerated. The government has set up a high-level inquiry headed by Financial Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar, who has 30 days to submit a report.
