PATNA: A 'malicious' question on Kashmir has dropped a bombshell in Bihar forcing the education minister to order a probe into the matter.
The Class VII students in Bihar’s Kishanganj district had a question in their half-yearly Social Science examination that asked them:
“What are the people of the following countries called? One is done for you.
I. The people of China are called Chinese.
II. People of Nepal are called the…..
III. The people of England are called the…..
IV. The people of Kashmir are called the…..
V. The people of India are called the….”
An official said, “Question papers are set in the headquarters in the state capital and a district has no role in it.”
In this case, the question was set by the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) while the overall responsibility rests with BEPC.
A show-cause notice has also been issued to the question setters by BEPC.
"We got this via Bihar Education Board. The question had to ask what are people from Kashmir called? But, it mistakenly carried as what are people of the country of Kashmir called? This was human error," Headteacher SK Das told ANI.
Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaswal demanded the government to identify the persons responsible for setting the 'malicious' question paper and take stern action against them. He asserted that there was a conspiracy behind asking such a question to students.
Bihar education minister Prof Chandrasekhar sounded sure when he said, "It cannot be termed a human error." He affirmed that the government will take action against the guilty.
The minister added that he has asked the district magistrate of Kishanganj to look into the matter and submit a report at the earliest. “Such negligence on the part of the officials concerned will not be tolerated,” he told the media.