Punjab bans class 12 books for distorting facts related to Sikh history

Chandigarh, May 01: The Punjab School Education Board has banned three books for allegedly distorting facts related to Sikh history, officials said.

Punjab Education Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on Sunday said action will be taken against writers and publishers for allegedly distorting facts related to Sikh history in the books.

"Sikh history is invaluable to all of us and future generations. Wrong facts related to Sikh history were presented in the 'History of Punjab' book of Class 12. On the directions of chief minister @BhagwantMann, orders have been issued to take action against writers/publishers and ban the use of books," he tweeted.

The minister said the main objective of the government is to provide good education to students and also to make them aware of the history of Gurus, the Sikh world and Punjab.

The books which have been banned are 'Modern ABC of history of Punjab', written by Manjit Singh Sodhi; 'History of Punjab', written by Mahinderpal Kaur; and 'History of Punjab' by M S Mann, for class 12.

These books have been published by three different Jalandhar-based publishers.

The decision to ban these books was taken following a report by an inquiry committee.

The committee was formed following a complaint by farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa, who had said that these books contained some remarks which were not in accordance with Sikh history.

PSEB chairman Yograj Singh on Sunday confirmed that the three books have been banned for distortion of facts.

The school education department principally accepted the contents of the inquiry report with the directions that these books be banned for sale and not be taught in schools in the state of Punjab, he said.

The order of the state government has been conveyed to the Director, SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training), and all district education officers for its compliance with immediate effect, the official said.

Yograj further said based upon the findings of the inquiry report, various follow-up action have been suggested or directed by the government to fix responsibility of various officers or officials who were at the helm of affairs at relevant time when these books were allowed to be notified by the board.

Many organisations had earlier held protests outside the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) office, demanding that these history books be banned for distorting facts related to Sikh history.