A fresh controversy has erupted over the proposal of the University of Jammu to drop from the Political Science MA syllabus references to Pakistan’s founder and the first Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as well as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan — often regarded as a key proponent of the two-nation theory — and poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, who penned the iconic “Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara”, with a senior J&K Minister Javed Ahmed Rana launching a scathing attack on the move and calling it “anti-scholarly act of intellectual vandalism”.
The Board of Studies (BoS) of the University is set to deliberate on Tuesday over a proposal to remove from the Political Science MA syllabus references to Jinnah, Khan and Iqbal.
A committee, set up by the University to review the syllabus of MA political science, has recommended the removal of topics related to Jinnah, Khan and Iqbal from the course content. The move came following a protest by the saffron party’s student wing — Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which on Friday staged demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of a chapter on Pakistan’s founder Jinnah. The chapter was included in the revised postgraduate syllabus under the National Education Policy 2020.
Reacting to the move, Javed Rana, who is the minister for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs in the cabinet of chief minister Omar Abdullah, in a post on X on Monday termed the proposal “a laughable, anti-scholarly act of intellectual vandalism”, warning that such steps undermine the very foundation of academic inquiry.
The minister wrote: “The recommendation by Jammu University’s Political Science Department to purge Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan from the curriculum is a laughable, anti-scholarly act of intellectual vandalism. By erasing these foundational figures of political thought, JU is transitioning from a site of critical pedagogy into a propaganda apparatus for RSS supremacism. This is a deliberate attempt to manufacture ideological bigots rather than nurturing inquisitive citizens”.
“JU must stop acting as a laboratory for historical revisionism. It should instead leverage its academic autonomy to promote a culture of dialectic inquiry and intellectual pluralism, making students restless and inquisitive rather than mere docile propagandists”, he added.
The controversy has gained further traction as the proposal adds a geopolitical dimension to the debate. Academics and observers say the outcome of the Board of Studies deliberations could set the tone for how history and political thought are taught in the region going forward. With strong opinions emerging from both political and academic quarters, all eyes are now on the University’s Board of Studies meeting, which is expected to take a final call on the contentious proposal.
Head of the Political Science Department Prof Baljit Singh Mann said that a meeting of the faculty and departmental affairs committee was held on 22 March, and they have unanimously resolved to recommend the removal of topics concerning Jinnah, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Mohammad Iqbal from the course content of the one-year postgraduate programme and the two-year postgraduate programme.
Earlier, the university had defended the syllabus, stating that the inclusion of Jinnah and other thinkers was purely academic and in line with University Grants Commission guidelines.
The module on “modern Indian political thought” includes a wide range of thinkers representing diverse ideological perspectives, such as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Iqbal, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Golwalkar, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.