Pakistan's largest province bans 100 textbooks for 'blasphemous' content
Books printed by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press are among 100 that have been banned by an education board in Pakistan for containing content deemed anti-Pakistan.
The Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) is currently undertaking a review of 10,000 books being used in private schools after the organisation said no-one had previously checked the curriculum.
Some of the banned books allegedly portray Pakistan as an inferior country to India, while others show Azad Jammu and Kashmir as part of India.
One book contained quotes from India’s famous independence figurehead Mahatma Gandhi while another showed mathematics counting concepts using pictures of pigs, with pork considered haram - or forbidden - by Pakistan's Muslims.
“We will conduct [a] complete inspection of these books within six months and will not allow these books and material against Islam and Pakistan [to be taught],” said Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir, the Managing Director of the PCTB.
Mr Nasir added that the 31 publishers found to have broken the law would face charges in Pakistan.
Users on social media questioned the PCTB’s decision and claimed it was a crackdown on freedom of speech. “Am I the only one who feels like they’re trapped in a dystopian nightmare and is just waiting to wake up?” wrote one user on Twitter.
“Why don’t they just ban all books so we can happily live in our ignorance forever and forever, ameen,” echoed another.
On Thursday, authorities in the eastern state of the Punjab passed a new act that permits greater control over the publishing industry in Pakistan’s most populous province.
The Punjab Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam Act 2020 allows the Director-General of Public Relations in Lahore to visit and inspect any printing press, publication house, book store and confiscate books before or after printing.
This ruling also attracted derision on social media, with users saying it would curtail the Pakistani publishing industry.
The PCTB did not provide details about which Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press books had been banned.
A spokesman for Cambridge University Press said: “While we are aware of the reports about the PCTB’s announcement in the Pakistani press, we have no further details at present and have not been contacted directly by them about any of our books. We will of course do what we can to help with the PCTB's investigation if they wish to contact us.”
Oxford University Press did not respond to a request for comment.
