Punjab School Education Board bans 3 books 'for distorting facts related to Sikh history'

The decision to ban these books was taken following a report by an inquiry committee. The committee was formed following a complaint by farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa, who had said that these books contained some remarks which were not in accordance with Sikh history.

Chandigarh: The Punjab School Education Board has banned three history books for allegedly distorting facts related to Sikh history. The books which have been banned are ‘Modern ABC of history of Punjab’, written by Manjit Singh Sodhi, ‘History of Punjab’, written by Mahinderpal Kaur, and ‘History of Punjab’ by M S Mann, for class 12.

These books have been published by three different Jalandhar-based publishers. The decision to ban these books was taken following a report by an inquiry committee. The committee was formed following a complaint by farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa, who had said that these books contained some remarks which were not in accordance with Sikh history.

PSEB chairman Yograj Singh on Sunday confirmed that the three books have been banned for distortion of facts. The school education department principally accepted the contents of the inquiry report with the directions that these books be banned for sale and not be taught in schools in the state of Punjab, he said.

The order of the state government has been conveyed to the Director, SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training), and all-district education officers for its compliance with immediate effect, the official said.

Yograj further said that based upon the findings of the inquiry report, various follow-up actions have been suggested or directed by the government to fix the responsibility of various officers or officials who were at the helm of affairs at the relevant time when these books were allowed to be notified by the board.

Many organizations had earlier held protests outside the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) office, demanding that these history books be banned for distorting facts related to Sikh history.

PTI