Chapter on Jinnah in Jammu University syllabus sparks protests; committee recommends removal

JAMMU: The Departmental Affairs Committee (DAC) of the University of Jammu has recommended the removal of topics related to former Pakistan Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Aligarh Muslim University founder Syed Ahmad Khan, and poet-philosopher Mohammad Iqbal from the MA Political Science curriculum. The move comes after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) over the inclusion of Jinnah under the module “Minorities and the Nation,” a part of the revised syllabus under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The committee’s recommendation covers both the one-year and two-year postgraduate programmes and has been forwarded to the Board of Studies (BoS), which is scheduled to meet online on March 24 to deliberate further. The syllabus had been defended by the department, with HoD Prof. Baljit Singh Mann stating that it was designed to provide students with multiple perspectives on modern Indian political thought, including thinkers such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, MS Golwalkar, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, alongside Jinnah, Sir Syed, and Iqbal. ABVP Jammu and Kashmir, led by secretary Sannak Shrivats, had staged protests demanding immediate withdrawal of the chapters, arguing that teaching figures associated with the two-nation theory and Partition raised “serious concerns” and undermined national sentiments. Shrivats warned of intensified protests if the syllabus was not revised and called for inclusion of personalities who positively contributed to minority welfare instead. The DAC’s resolution was unanimous, highlighting concerns raised by ABVP, and now awaits BoS approval for implementation.(With agency inputs)