LAHORE – The Punjab Textbook Board (PTB) Monday allegedly confiscated a Social Studies book of grade 7 for publishing the picture of Malala Yousufzai alongside national heroes.
Report of Dawn Newspaper cited that the book, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), was seized over criticism for publishing the picture of Pakistani Nobel Laureate alongside war heroes.
It further stated that many of the important personalities had been published on page 33 of the book that included Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan, Nishan-i-Haider recipient Maj Aziz Bhatti Shaheed and activist Malala Yousufzai.
The academic book is reportedly available in a number of educational institutions while police, along with other authorities raided book shops to confiscate the book.
However, PTCB in a letter to the press declared that the published book had not been given a No-Objection Certificate (NOC). The book had been submitted to the PCTB for approval in 2019 but had failed to receive a NOC and the development came as OUP had decided to publish it without a NOC.
Report of Dawn quoting one of the publishers said the book had been submitted to the authorities for a review in 2019. After reviewing its contents, the book did not approve it for publishing.
Punjab bans 100 books for carrying anti-Pakistan, blasphemous content
Earlier in 2020, the PCTB had banned 100 textbooks for unethical and illegal content – and for getting published with proper order. Some of the books had published incorrect date of birth of Quaid-i-Azam while some others contained blasphemous material besides inaccurate maps of Pakistan.
