Jammu and Kashmir: LG Manoj Sinha suspends 8 officials over books glorifying terrorists, two books withdrawn and authors & publishers blacklisted
In a decisive move, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered the immediate suspension of eight School Education Department officials for serious lapses in the approval and procurement of two controversial library books that allegedly glorified separatism and named terrorists and separatist leaders as prominent personalities. The action, taken under Rule 31(1)(a) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1956, follows widespread backlash over the books being supplied to government school libraries under the Samagra Shiksha programme.
The Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department, on the order of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has placed eight officials under suspension and disengaged a contractual employee after two books procured for government school libraries were found to contain content related to… pic.twitter.com/Ab8xTRSg9a
— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2026
The books in question, Personalities and Legends of J&K (Series-4), co-authored by Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena and published by Oberoi Book Service, Jammu, and Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir, authored by Dr Sushant Giri and published by Anurag Prakashan, Delhi, were selected by expert sub-committees and distributed in limited numbers to schools in districts including Jammu, Ramban, Udhampur and Baramulla before being withdrawn on July 3.
Reports indicate the books portrayed figures such as JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, and separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Shah, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Masarat Alam Bhat in a positive light, while allegedly using terms like “Indian Occupied Kashmir” and promoting a narrative seen as sympathetic to separatism. BJP leaders described the content as having “highly inappropriate” material with the potential to create law and order issues and accused it of amounting to an “academic jihad” aimed at poisoning young minds.
According to the government order, the suspensions stem from “serious negligence, dereliction of duty and lack of proper due diligence” by members of the Series-4 Sub-Committee and supervisory officers who recommended the books despite their objectionable content.
The suspended officials, who have been attached to the Administrative Department of the School Education Department, are: Coordinator Library, Samagra Shiksha Fazil Imran Saddiqui; Assistant Coordinator Gurjeet Singh; Principal Sanjeev Sharma of GHSS Kore Pannu; Academic Officer Shazia Kouser of SCERT Jammu; and lecturers Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir of BHSS Wathoora Budgam, Niranjan Sharma of GHSS Badhat Kishtwar, Renu Mengi of DIET Jammu and Rajmohini of GGHSS Poonch. A contractual Computer Assistant, Sheikh Suheel Ahmad, has also been disengaged.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has further directed a high-level departmental inquiry into the entire process of book selection, evaluation and procurement under the Samagra Shiksha library grant scheme, which covered thousands of government and PM SHRI schools. Additional Chief Secretary (Financial Commissioner), Power Development Department Ashwani Kumar has been appointed as the inquiry officer, with Additional Secretary in the General Administration Department Rohit Sharma serving as Presenting Officer. The inquiry report is to be submitted within 30 days.
In parallel, the authors and publishers of the two books have been blacklisted across the Union Territory, and all printed material authored or published by them is to be withdrawn from J&K.
