Question asking students to identify ‘Azad Kashmir’ on India map triggers row

Kolkata, Jan 18: A class 10 board exams question paper from a school in Bengal, asking students to mark "Azad Kashmir" on a map, setting off a major political controversy.

In the question paper, issued in an exercise book of a Bengali-medium school for Madhyamik aspirants, the paper setter has asked them to identify several places on the map - Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (referred to as 'Azad Kashmir' in Pakistan), the place where Gandhiji had first undertaken the Satyagraha movement, and the Chittagong battleground.

Taking a strong exception to the development, the BJP claimed it to be a "jihadi conspiracy" and the TMC terming it a mistake that it doesn't support.

Union Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar instituted an inquiry and promised stern action against those responsible for the oversight.

Sarkar told PTI that the central government will also look into the issue.

"I urge the state education minister to conduct an inquiry. If the allegations are genuine, appropriate action should be taken against the publisher and the person who has set the paper. The test paper should be immediately withdrawn and the question deleted," he said.

Sarkar went on to say that the incident, if found to be true, can be attributed to the "appeasement politics of the TMC-run government, which has emboldened some people to insert a question with anti-national overtones in the test paper".

West Bengal Board of Secondary Education President Ramanuj Ganguly, when contacted, conceded that the "goof up" has taken place in the test papers published by the autonomous body, and action is being taken against those responsible for the mistake.

"We published a compilation of question papers provided by various schools. In one such question paper, this mistake was identified. A probe is being conducted, and stern action will be initiated against editorial team members who were entrusted with the task of proofreading the papers," Ganguly told PTI.

He said the process to issue a corrigendum on the board's website is underway. "Those involved in the mistake will not be spared," he said.

Earlier, a question asked in Class VII examination of a Patna school identified Kashmir as a separate country.