A committee set up by the University of Jammu has recommended removing references to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Syed Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Iqbal from the MA Political Science syllabus, local media reported on Monday.
The recommendation has been sent to the Board of Studies, which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to consider the proposal, according to reports.
The panel, headed by Professor Naresh Padha, was formed after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad against the inclusion of a chapter on Jinnah’s political thought in the curriculum.
The ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
ABVP’s Jammu and Kashmir state secretary Sannak Shrivats, who led the protests, said Jinnah had earlier been referenced in a chapter on the “two-nation theory” but now appeared under “Minorities and the Nations”.
He claimed that Jinnah was portrayed as a leader of minorities in India.
Baljit Singh Mann, head of the Political Science Department, had earlier said that including Jinnah and other thinkers was in line with curricula followed by universities across the country and guidelines of the University Grants Commission.
He added that an unnecessary controversy was being created and that the university does not promote any ideology but presents diverse perspectives to enable critical evaluation, according to reports.