Omar1984
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Police charge Kashmir officials over critical text
Indian authorities have filed charges against Kashmir education officials over a textbook for first graders that illustrates the word "oppressor" with a sketch resembling an Indian police officer.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the Indian-controlled part of the disputed Himalayan region, where violent confrontations routinely erupt between stone-throwing protesters and baton-wielding police.
Police official Shailandra Mishra said Tuesday that authorities were angered by an Urdu-language textbook illustrating the word "zalim," or oppressor, with a drawing of a mustachioed man wearing a cap and uniform and carrying a bamboo club similar to those carried by Indian police.
Police charged officials responsible for the creation and publication of the book, along with the head of the government-run board of education, with criminal conspiracy, sedition and defamation Monday. The charges could carry a 10-year sentence.
Mishra also said the word was inappropriate in a book for such young students.
Sheikh Bashir, chairman of the board of education, said the body had already issued a notice to delete the picture from the textbook.
"We've initiated a departmental inquiry to know why the mistake occurred. Let me assure that it was not a deliberate attempt or a conspiracy to defame the police," he said.
Last year, police arrested a college lecturer on charges he gave his students an English exam filled with questions attacking a crackdown on demonstrations challenging Indian rule in the region. Police accused the lecturer of promoting secession and spreading disaffection against the state.
Kashmir is divided between Hindu-majority India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan, but claimed by both in its entirety. Though many living in Indian-controlled Kashmir are agitating for independence or merger with Pakistan, India considers it illegal to question the country's claim to the region.
Indian forces have largely suppressed a violent rebellion that broke out in 1989, but Kashmiris have turned instead to holding street protests. More than 68,000 people have died in the conflict.
Police charge Kashmir officials over critical text - CBS News
Indian authorities have filed charges against Kashmir education officials over a textbook for first graders that illustrates the word "oppressor" with a sketch resembling an Indian police officer.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the Indian-controlled part of the disputed Himalayan region, where violent confrontations routinely erupt between stone-throwing protesters and baton-wielding police.
Police official Shailandra Mishra said Tuesday that authorities were angered by an Urdu-language textbook illustrating the word "zalim," or oppressor, with a drawing of a mustachioed man wearing a cap and uniform and carrying a bamboo club similar to those carried by Indian police.
Police charged officials responsible for the creation and publication of the book, along with the head of the government-run board of education, with criminal conspiracy, sedition and defamation Monday. The charges could carry a 10-year sentence.
Mishra also said the word was inappropriate in a book for such young students.
Sheikh Bashir, chairman of the board of education, said the body had already issued a notice to delete the picture from the textbook.
"We've initiated a departmental inquiry to know why the mistake occurred. Let me assure that it was not a deliberate attempt or a conspiracy to defame the police," he said.
Last year, police arrested a college lecturer on charges he gave his students an English exam filled with questions attacking a crackdown on demonstrations challenging Indian rule in the region. Police accused the lecturer of promoting secession and spreading disaffection against the state.
Kashmir is divided between Hindu-majority India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan, but claimed by both in its entirety. Though many living in Indian-controlled Kashmir are agitating for independence or merger with Pakistan, India considers it illegal to question the country's claim to the region.
Indian forces have largely suppressed a violent rebellion that broke out in 1989, but Kashmiris have turned instead to holding street protests. More than 68,000 people have died in the conflict.
Police charge Kashmir officials over critical text - CBS News
