Jammu, March 22 A committee set up by the University of Jammu to review the syllabus for MA political science has recommended removing topics related to former Pakistani President Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, and Mohammad Iqbal from the course content.
This decision comes after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which staged demonstrations on Friday demanding the withdrawal of a chapter on Pakistan's founder, Jinnah. The chapter was included in the revised postgraduate syllabus under the National Education Policy 2020.
Head of the Department (HoD), Professor Baljit Singh Mann, said that a meeting of the faculty and departmental affairs committee was held on March 22 (today), and they have unanimously resolved to recommend the removal of topics concerning Jinnah, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, and Mohammad Iqbal from the course content of both the one-year and two-year postgraduate programs.
The recommendation has been forwarded to the Board of Studies (BoS) for consideration. Mann added that the BoS is scheduled to meet online on March 24 to further discuss the matter.
Earlier, the university had defended the syllabus, stating that the inclusion of Jinnah and other thinkers was purely academic and in line with the guidelines of the University Grants Commission.
The module on "modern Indian political thought" includes a wide range of thinkers representing diverse ideological perspectives, such as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Iqbal, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, M S Golwalkar, Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mann had said.
He clarified that the syllabus was designed to present multiple viewpoints, adding that several of these figures held nationalist positions during different phases of their lives, making their study important for historical understanding.
ABVP Jammu and Kashmir Secretary, Sannak Shrivats, had earlier demanded the immediate withdrawal of the chapter, stating that teaching figures associated with the partition and the two-nation theory was unacceptable to students.
He warned of intensified protests if the syllabus was not revised and urged that personalities who worked positively for minorities be included instead.