The Jammu and Kashmir police have filed a case against the state’s school board for publishing a book that has a picture depicting a policeman as a “tyrant”.
The board has, however, protested innocence, saying the picture did not resemble a Jammu and Kashmir policeman, but still regretted the incident as a “mistake”.
“Although the matter was brought to the notice of the board authorities in June, they did not rectify the error. Finally, we registered a case after a complaint was lodged,” Sunil Gupta, superintendent of police (west zone), told Hindustan Times.
“The picture is embarrassing. How will one react when a policeman is shown as such to school kids? It has hurt a section of society in Kashmir,” he said.
The board published the book, Baharistan-e-Urdu, for class 1 students of government-run schools last year, when more than 110 persons were killed in police and CRPF action. It replaced a book that had become outdated. The letter “zoi”, which had been used to explain the pronunciation of the word “zaraf”, meaning utensil, in the old book, now stands with the word “zalim”, meaning tyrant, along with a picture “resembling” a policeman with a moustache.
Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education chairman Sheikh Bashir, however, said the picture did not stand for a policeman. “It is just their thinking that it resembles a constable or officer. It is not that only a policeman has a moustache. Still I have directed the authorities to remove the picture,” Bashir said.
{{/usCountry}}Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education chairman Sheikh Bashir, however, said the picture did not stand for a policeman. “It is just their thinking that it resembles a constable or officer. It is not that only a policeman has a moustache. Still I have directed the authorities to remove the picture,” Bashir said.
{{/usCountry}}“There is no intention of maligning the police. We regret this unintentional mistake,” he said.
The SP, however, said the police had launched an investigation to find out who was responsible for this.
“We can’t rule out the possibility of any anti-Indian element or a person with separatist ideology involved in this,” he said.