SRI NAGAR: A day after a directive to provide the Urdu version of Bhagavad Gita and the Kashmiri version of Ramayana in all educational institutions and libraries in J&K, the state administration withdrew it. While the order to introduce the scriptures was issued by the school education department, it was withdrawn on the directions of Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam.
The decision to populate institutions with Gita and Ramayana had been taken at meeting chaired by B B Vyas, advisor to Governor Satya Pal Malik on October 4. The Kashmiri Ramayana was authored by Sarwanand Premi. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah questioned the decision, saying “Why just the Gita and Ramayan?... why is it being done selectively? Why are other religions being ignored?”