Kolkata:
An image of a model questionnaire from a school in Bengal asking students to mark “Azad Kashmir” on a map has been widely circulated on social media, sparking controversy ahead of class 10 exams.
The school in question is Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir School of Malda. Pakistan and terrorist organizations refer to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as “Azad Kashmir”.
Several schools and teachers’ associations, as well as the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, release model questions every year to prepare the exam candidates. These are printed in book form and Bengali board students solve them as part of their preparations.
Union Minister Subhas Sarkar, who has called for a state-level investigation, told DailyExpertNews that the education ministry should stop selling the test paper and investigate the matter.
“They have to find out who posted the paper, find out who published it and take the necessary action… Their mentality is anti-national and the editor of the paper wants to fuel terrorist activity,” he added.
Ramanuja Ganguly, chairman of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, said action will be taken.’
“We are trying to correct and clarify and see exactly what happened. We will check with the people who formulated the question and edited the question and then based on the model law and its clauses we will make a decision We will communicate our decision through our website,” he told reporters.
“We have found out that a school called Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir School in Malda has asked this question in a test. I have heard this but it is not confirmed that the history teacher did not make the questionnaire. The physical education teacher even did it though his personal academic qualification lies in history. I don’t know what the rector has done about it and these are matters that need to be investigated,” said Ramanuja Ganguly.
This test paper has already been distributed throughout the state. The chairman of the board said it was not possible to recall it.
Subhash Sarkar said the incident, if true, could be attributed to the “appeasement policy of the Trinamool-led government, which has encouraged some people to include a question with anti-national overtones in the test paper”.
Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh later told PTI that his party does not support anything that is wrong. “If anyone has asked such a question, he has done the wrong thing. We do not support such acts,” he said. “The Trinamool is a secular party, which does not believe in appeasing any particular community. Sarkar has made an unfounded remark against our party,” added Ghosh.
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