Case Update Status

Case Closed because Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) banned 100 books are still banned

Summary of Case

"On July 23, 2020, Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) Managing Director Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir on Thursday banned 100 books being taught in private schools for carrying blasphemous and anti-Pakistan content.

Addressing a press conference, Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir said that the PCTB had started critical review of 10,000 books being taught by private schools across the province and in the first phase had banned 100 books of 31 publishers including Oxford and Cambridge for blasphemous, immoral and anti-Pakistan content.

The PCTB MD said that the board had formed 30 committees for this purpose. He said it was sad that nobody checked these books earlier and had no idea what was being taught to our kids in private schools against hefty fees. He said the banned books had distorted facts about Pakistan and its creation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal while these books also carried blasphemous content. He said Pakistan was portrayed as an inferior country to India while Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) was also shown as part of India in maps in some of these books.

Rai Manzoor Nasir said that instead of including sayings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, etc. one of the books carried sayings of Mahatma Gandhi and some unknown people. He said in a book of Mathematics counting concepts were made explained to the young students showing pictures of pigs. He said one of the books by Cambridge tried to promote crime and violence among the students on the basis of unemployment in the country.

The PCTB MD said that these 100 books had been immediately banned and the publishers had been directed to immediately stop publishing and selling the books. He said District Education Authorities (DEAs) across Punjab will visit private schools (after reopening of schools) to check if these books were still being taught. He said FIRs would be registered against the publishers for violation under the provisions of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Act 2015.

These books are still banned."

Category of Incident

Censorship

ICCS Status

ICCS Divisions: 0803-Acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

ICCS Group: 08039-Other acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

ICCS Class: N/A

ICCS Crime: Acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

Reported By

The News

Date of incident

23

Month

July

Year

2020

Name of affected person

N/A

Other affected persons

No other person affected

Name of affected organization

No organization affected

Other affected organizations

No other organization affected

Action by

Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB)

City

Lahore

Province

Punjab

Designation

N/A

Professional category

N/A

Age of victim

N/A

Marital Status

Compensation Details

Amount of compensation announced by government: No compensation Announced

Date of compensation announcement by government: N/A

Date of compensation paid by government: N/A

Amount of compensation announced by others: No compensation Announced

Date of compensation announced by others: N/A

Date compensation paid by others: N/A

FIR Details

Was FIR registered ?: No

Court Details

Was case investigated ?: N/A

Court where case was presented: N/A

Name of prosecuting lawyer: N/A

Date of first court hearing:

Date of last court hearing:

Status of court case: N/A

Journalist Union Status

PFUJ

N/A

APNS

N/A

CPNE

N/A

PBA

N/A

Media Source Status

Media reports:

Condemn Status

Colleague of victim

Employer organization

Press Club Status

Press club 1: N/A

Press club 2: N/A

Press club 3: N/A