Avinash Azad
The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered the immediate suspension of eight high-ranking education department officials, in connection book glorifying separatism distributed in government schools. The sweeping disciplinary action follows an alarming security and oversight lapse where books containing highly inappropriate content related to separatism were approved and distributed to government schools.
The official order, issued by the direction of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has exposed deep vulnerabilities in the textbook review mechanism of the Union Territory. Alongside the suspensions, the government has terminated a contractual employee, blacklisted two prominent publishers, banned the authors, and ordered an immediate high-level probe into what is being seen as a severe dereliction of duty.
The controversy stems from a government initiative funded by the Samagra Shiksha program, which received a dedicated Library Grant intended to procure age-appropriate books for 18,328 Government Schools and 394 PM SHRI Schools across the region.
To filter and select the books, the administration had constituted four specialized Sub-Committees consisting of experts and academicians from both the Jammu and Kashmir divisions. Out of 463 books submitted by 364 publishers, the panels cleared the inventory for school libraries. However, a social organization red flags went up when highly inappropriate and separatist-leaning content was discovered in two specific titles cleared by Sub-Committee Series 4 (designated for Higher Secondary classes).
The two books flagged for containing material with the potential for creating law and order situations are: Personalities and Legends of J&K, Authored Mr. Hilal Ahmad and Mr. Santosh Meena, and Published by Oberoi Book Service, Jammu. 123 copies had already been supplied to school libraries across Jammu, Ramban, and Udhampur districts before the recall.
Second book is, Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir, Authored Dr. Sushant Giri, Published by Anurag Prakashan, Delhi, 128 copies were distributed across Jammu and Baramulla districts.
Faced with a massive bureaucratic failure that allowed secessionist propaganda into the hands of impressionable higher secondary students, Government Order No: 257-JK(Edu) of 2026 was executed on July 4, 2026, by Ram Niwas Sharma (IAS), Commissioner/Secretary to the Government. The LG administration invoked Rule 31(1)(a) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Rules, 1956, and suspended Fazil Imran Saddiqui – Coordinator Library, Samagra Shiksha, Gurjeet Singh – Assistant Coordinator, Samagra Shiksha, Mr. Sanjeev Sharma – Principal, GHSS, Kore Pannu, Kathua, Shazia Kouser – Academic Officer, SCERT, Jammu, Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir – Lecturer, BHSS, Wathoora, Budgam, Niranjan Sharma,– Lecturer, GHSS, Badhat, Kishtwar, Renu Mengi– Lecturer, DIET, Jammu and Rajmohini– Lecturer, GGHSS, Poonch.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Suheel Ahmad, a contractual Computer Assistant who was assisting the Coordinator Library at Samagra Shiksha, has been disengaged from his services.
In a bid to permanently scrub the footprint of the entities involved, the UT administration has banned and blacklisted authors Hilal Ahmad, Santosh Meena, and Dr. Sushant Giri, along with publishers Oberoi Book Service (Jammu) and Anurag Prakashan (Delhi). All printed material ever authored or published by them is being aggressively withdrawn from the entire Union Territory.
Recognizing the deeper national security implications of the oversight, the J&K Home Department has been formally looped in to take appropriate legal action. Concurrently, a time-bound internal investigation has been launched, Ashwani Kumar, Financial Commissioner & Additional Chief Secretary, Power Development Department, has been appointed to spearhead the investigation, and Rohit Sharma, Additional Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department has been appointed presenting officer in the matter. The inquiry panel has been given a strict 30-day window to submit its final report to the Competent Authority. Paradoxically, the ease with which literature glorifying separatism slipped through a multi-tier “Expert Committee” point to more than just casual negligence; it raises uncomfortable questions about systemic institutional complacency or potential insider complicity.
