Usman Bazdar removes officer for banning objectionable books.

LAHORE (19-Aug-2020) Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar has removed the officer who had banned objectionable books. According to the report of Jang newspaper, the Punjab government has appointed Manzoor Nasir, managing director of Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board. Manzoor Nasir had recently banned 100 textbooks which contained several errors and included material which was declared anti-Islamic and anti-Pakistan by a committee of experts.

It is being said that the Chief Minister ordered the transfer of Manzoor Nasir without listening to his position and under the pressure of influential groups. Anti-Islamic, anti-Islamic and anti-Pakistan information was included. Many books show Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as part of India, while dozens of books describe five provinces of Pakistan.

He did not comment on the removal, but said that he was removed due to propaganda and pressure from self-interested groups. It is to be noted that Rai Nasir Manzoor MDPCTB critically reviewed 10,000 books being taught in private schools across the province and in the first phase Oxford on blasphemous, immoral and anti-Pakistan material. And 100 books by 31 publishers, including Cambridge, have been banned.

The PCTB MD had said that the board had constituted 30 committees for this purpose. "Unfortunately, no one has checked these books before and they had no idea what our children are being taught in private schools in the face of heavy fees," he said. He said that the banned books had distorted the facts about Pakistan and its founders Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal even though they contained insulting material. He said that Pakistan has been presented as an inferior country to India while Azad Jammu and Kashmir would also be shown India's share in the maps in these books.