J&K: 3 publishers held for books in school libraries praising separatists

JAMMU: J&K police arrested three publishers on Sunday in a case linked to two books allegedly glorifying separatists and anti-national elements that were supplied to government school libraries before being withdrawn.Inderpaul of Jammu-based Oberoi Book Service and Amardeep Singh and Girish Arora of Noida-based Dominant Publishers were taken into custody, as police widened the probe that could trigger more arrests.Case centres on “Personalities and Legends of J&K” authored by Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena, and “Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir” written by Sushant Giri.On July 4, LG Manoj Sinha suspended eight school education department officials, dismissed a contractual staffer and ordered an inquiry after BJP, Congress and other political parties objected that the two books, distributed under Centre’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, contained “inappropriate content”.According to officials, sub-committees were set up to select books after library grants were received under Samagra Shiksha. They shortlisted 463 titles, but scrutiny later flagged the two books. By then, 100-plus copies of each book had reached schools.On July 6, police searched Samagra Shiksha’s office in Jammu and a publisher’s office in Noida. Officials said searches were aimed at finding how the books reached libraries despite red flags during content scrutiny.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.