ABVP protests for withdrawal of chapter on Jinnah
Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Mar 20: Following the concern raised by ABVP and others over inclusion of a chapter on Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the revised postgraduate Political Science syllabus in the University of Jammu, the JU administration has constituted a committee to examine the issue.
As per an official order issued by the Office of the Dean Academic Affairs, the committee has been formed on the directions of the Vice-Chancellor to look into the matter and submit its report at the earliest.
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The committee will be convened by Prof Naresh Padha and includes the Heads of the Departments of Philosophy, History, and Sociology, along with the Director of DSRS. The Assistant Registrar (Academic Affairs) will serve as the Member Secretary.
The panel has been tasked with examining the syllabus-related concerns comprehensively and presenting its findings promptly to the university authorities.
Earlier, the ABVP activists today staged a protest at the University campus demanding withdrawal of the chapter on Muhammad Ali Jinnah included in the revised postgraduate Political Science syllabus under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Led by ABVP J&K State Secretary Sannak Shrivats, protesters assembled on the university campus and raised slogans against the administration, seeking immediate removal of the chapter from the “Modern Indian political thought” module under the paper “Minorities and the Nation”. They also tore posters of Jinnah and warned of intensifying the agitation if the content is not withdrawn.
Shrivats said that academic freedom should not disregard national sentiments and termed the decision “unacceptable” to students. “If the university administration fails to revoke this inclusion immediately, ABVP will be compelled to launch a strong democratic agitation across Jammu and Kashmir,” he warned.
He added that if minorities are to be represented in the curriculum, figures who “genuinely worked for minorities” should be included, not those associated with the country’s division.
While talking to the Excelsior, Head of the Political Science Department in JU, Baljit Singh Mann defended the syllabus, saying the inclusion of Jinnah and other thinkers is purely academic and consistent with the curricula followed by universities nationwide as well as the UGC norms. He said excluding such topics would disadvantage students appearing for the National Eligibility Test (NET).
He emphasised that the university does not promote any ideology but presents diverse viewpoints to enable critical evaluation. “Our objective is to present different perspectives so that students can assess the merits and demerits and distinguish between right and wrong. This is an academic exercise, not advocacy,” he said.
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