The Punjab government has officially banned three history books for allegedly misrepresenting facts about Sikh history, following five years of complaints by Sikh intellectuals and agricultural activists.
The books that have been prohibited include Manjit Singh Sodhi’s ‘Modern ABC of History of Punjab’, a history book by Mahinder Pal Kaur, and M S Mann’s ‘History of Punjab’ for Class 12. The books were part of the school board’s syllabus and were produced by several Jalandhar-based companies.
The book, History of Punjab, had inaccurate information regarding Sikhs, according to Education Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. ‘Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered action against its writers and publishers besides banning the book’, he said.
As per Gurpreet Singh, former president of the Institute of Sikh Studies, despite the fact that the books were banned in 2017, instructors continued to use them in classrooms under the guise of not having an alternative textbook. The Dr Kirpal Singh Committee was formed in 2017 to replace the books because of the nasty and baseless statements they contained about Sikh gurus and people. They had staged a number of rallies, demanding that the books be removed immediately and that FIRs be filed against those involved.
The committee was constituted in response to a protest by farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa, who claimed that the books included statements that contradicted Sikh heritage. The books were eventually banned as a result of the protests.
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On Saturday, Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) chairman Yograj Singh told the media that the three books had been banned due to factual inaccuracies. He added that the contents of the inquiry report were accepted by the school education department, with the instruction that the books be barred from sale and not taught in Punjabi schools.
Inder Pal Singh Malhotra, a former officer on special duty (OSD) to Punjab’s director-general of education, led the investigation.
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