New Delhi
A huge controversy has broken out in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh after a question in a Class 10 state board examination referred to AJK as Azad Kashmir, twice, in contravention to the Indian government’s false claim on the territory.
In the Social Science examination, question number four asked the students to match six pairs of sub-questions with six sub-answers. The words “Azad Kashmir” formed one of the sub-answers/sub-options. The second time, the question paper asked the students to plot “Azad Kashmir” on the map.
Meanwhile, the New Delhi-based National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has taken suo-moto cognizance of Madhya Pradesh Education Board for asking students about Azad Kashmir in the Class X social sciences question paper.
The Commission took cognizance of the matter after receiving it through social media — e-newspaper and Twitter. In a statement, NCPCR said that the social sciences paper of P-915 High School, questions 4 and 26 referred to “Azad Kashmir”.
“In question 26, children have been asked to indicate ”Azad Kashmir” on the map. Such kinds of questions are particularly misleading which can negatively influence the minds of children since ”Azad Kashmir” is not a constitutionally approved phrase/term,” the Commission said in a statement.
The child rights body says this seems to be a criminal offence, and the state government should urgently investigate into the matter. It also asked the state government to communicate the action taken against those responsible.
It is worth mentioning here that in blatant violation of the UN resolutions, India claims Jammu and Kashmir as its integral part, while Pakistan considers the entire territory as disputed as per relevant resolutions of the United Nations.—KMS
