A day after the prelims for the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) was held, a contentious question asked during the exam about the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir began doing the rounds on the internet.
“Should India decide to hand over Kashmir to Pakistan?” read the question, which appeared in all Sets (A, B, C and D) of the paper. This is despite the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.
The question presented two options, one suggesting that it should be done because it would save India’s resources. The other option stated that it may lead to other secessionist movements.
The students were asked to choose between the two and provide reasons for the same. The incident led to a political furore in the State, prompting the Seva Aayog to take action against the individual who set the questions for the civil services.
The official was reprimanded for not following the guidelines while preparing the question paper. He has been sent a show-cause notice and debarred from all future duties, associated with the MPPSC.
Pakistan occupied Kashmir called ‘Azad Kashmir’ in MP Board’s 10th standard questions paper
In March 2020, the Madhya Pradesh State Board had called ‘Pakistan occupied Kashmir’ (PoK) as ‘Azad Kashmir’ in its social science examination paper prepared for the 10th standard board exams.
In the social science paper meant for the 10th standard students, question number four, presented in both Hindi and English languages, was a match the following type question. The students were given five words and their related answers were given in a jumbled form. The students were required to match the question with its correct option.
The option on the left column had its correct and matching option on the right-hand column. As such, option number ‘c’ of question number ‘4’ is ‘India-Pakistan war’ and its related option given in the paper was ‘Azad Kashmir’.The term “Azad Kashmir” is often used by Pakistan to regard part of Kashmir under its occupation. India had made it clear that the whole of Jammu and Kashmir is Indian territory and the part currently illegally occupied by Pakistan is called Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.