ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of objectionable contents against the Baloch people in a college textbook, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has urged the chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh to take action against elements responsible for the offence.

Mr Rabbani discussed the matter with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif related to “offensive” remarks about the Baloch people in the textbook being taught in colleges of his province and asked him to take it up seriously.

The chief minister, according to a handout issued by the Senate Secretariat, informed Mr Rabbani that he had already constituted a committee to look into the matter.

On Monday, the Senate chairman had taken up the matter with Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, who also assured that an immediate inquiry would be carried out and the outcome would be shared with the Senate.

Senate chairman deplores ‘insulting and factually-distorted definition of Baloch’ in textbook

During a sitting of the upper house on March 11, senators from Balochistan had raised the issue of “distorted and abusive definition of Baloch” in the “Sociology of Pakistan” book being taught at the intermediate level in colleges of Punjab and Sindh.

The Senate chairman had then assured the house that he would look into the matter. He deplored the “insulting and factually-distorted definition of Baloch” who were pride of Pakistan and reiterated that the Senate, being a house of the federation, would ensure that factually and historically incorrect information was not injected into the minds of the youth. It was an attempt, he said, to expose the country to uncertainty and discontinuity in the democratic process.

The issue had been raised by Mir Kabir of the National Party who pointed out that the book being taught to students of the 12th class in Punjab described the Baloch as “uncivilised people engaged in murder and looting”.

Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party had condemned the distorted introduction of Baloch people in the book and called for action against elements responsible for it.

Mr Rabbani had said that the syllabus had been prepared under an ordinance promulgated during the days of Gen Ziaul Haq and it “still teaches children the benefits of dictatorship”. He said only one paragraph had been devoted to the dismemberment of Pakistan but there was no mention of the struggle for democracy in the syllabus, which claimed that imposition of dictatorship was in the interest of the country and the nation.

Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq had stated that the matter was “tantamount to stabbing the nation in the back” and called for setting up a committee to identify those responsible for the “blunder”.

The newly-appointed parliamentary secretary of the PML-N, Mushahidullah Khan, had said the entire syllabus should be reviewed to find out if it contains more such distortions. He said that action should be taken against those who were supposed to monitor contents of the syllabus.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2016