NEW DELHI: A year after the Aligarh Muslim University had to remove a Pakistani author from their syllabus after the complaints that his teachings were objectionable; the University Grants Commission (UGC) has sought responses from the central universities asking if a book by a Pakistani author is being taught at Jamia, AMU or any other educational institute.
The said question was raised at the Rajya Sabha on March 16 where the registrars of the central Universities were asked to respond by March 22, 2023. Without mentioning the name of the author, UGC in its question has stated, “Whether the government has taken cognisance of the fact that a book by a Pakistani author is being taught at Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia University or any other educational institute and the language is derogatory to Indian citizens and also supports terrorism?”
The UGC has further questioned if the government would consider scrutinizing the contents of textbooks written by the said Pakistani author.
Professor Nazim Hussain Jafri, registrar of the Jamia Millia Islamia University said, “We have responded to the UGC letter already stating that the prescribed syllabus at our University does not involve any teachings by a Pakistani author which is derogatory in language or supports terrorism.”
However last year, the AMU decided to remove the teachings of one of the Pakistani authors saying that the decision was taken after some complaints were received that the teachings of the authors were objectionable. A couple of Delhi University professors through social media even opposed this idea of asking such a question and especially targeting two Minority institutes.
Last year, an open letter was written to the Prime Minister of India by 25 academics bringing to his notice the jihadi Islamic course curriculum at AMU, Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia and Jamia Hamdard University. The open letter said that it is a matter of deep concern and worry that the writings of Abul Ala Maududi are part of the course curriculum of three universities. Following this, the varsity had to officially remove that part from the syllabus.