According to news published in the media, Jammu University has proposed to remove the references from its postgraduate Political Science Syllabus. The demand was made by ABVP, a students’ wing of RSS. The press release issued by HOD of the Department of Political Science says, “The faculty / department affairs committee (DAC) meeting was held on 22 March 2026…. After a thorough consideration, the committee unanimously resolved to recommend the removal of topics concerning Mohd. Ali Jinnah, Syed Ahmad Khan and Mohd. Iqbal from the course content of PIPSTC 102 of the One Year Postgraduate Programme and course content of P2PSTC 302 of the Two Year Postgraduate Programme in Political Science.”
I would like to share a well-reasoned and unbiased opinion of Mr. Sohail Kazmi, political analyst, editor with the Urdu Daily Taskeenand a well-known figure in Jammu with the learned readers of Radiance. He says, “At the very least, education must be spared from religious and political biases. Had Jinnah been a militant leader in India, I would have supported dropping his reference from the syllabus. But he was one of the brightest minds, highly educated and, above all, one of the most significant political leaders of India. How can we erase his name from history, or even from the syllabus of a college or university? Similarly, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan played a vital role in reforming education in our country. He founded Aligarh Muslim University which is an institution every citizen of India can be proud of. Why should we remove him? How can Iqbal, who gave us ‘Saarey Jahan se achha…,’ be considered a threat?”
Mr. Kazmi further opined that dropping references to Muslim figures from the syllabus should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by everyone who believes in the ethics of education. (Source: The National Herald Weekly, New Delhi Dated 5 April 2026)
Bawani Farooq Abdulgafar
Rajkot, Gujarat
Palestinian Prisoners’ Day
At the Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, the lovers of truth and justice have reaffirmedtheir unwavering commitment to the freedom of all Palestinian political prisoners in apartheid Israel’s prisons and detention centres. They have appealed to the truth- and justice-loving people to take meaningful action by escalating all BDS campaigns to further isolate Israel’s regime of apartheid and genocide.
They said, “We call for escalating BDS campaigns against corporations that are deeply involved in Israel’s horrific violations of Palestinian and other Arab prisoners’ human rights, particularly Microsoft, HP and Cisco.
Since the start of its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has drastically escalated its policy of torture, abuse, and extreme deprivation of food and medical care against Palestinian prisoners in a desperate attempt to break their will.”
They further said, “While intensifying field executions and extrajudicial killings, Israel has recently enacted a racist death penalty bill that targets only Palestinian and other Arab prisoners.”
At a time of warmongering, we must lend our support to truth and justice wheresoever attempts are made to erode truth and justice from public space. This is the least we can do as human beings, for we are not beasts.
Shakeel Ahmad
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
Fresh Violence in Manipur
Violence has restarted in Manipur. Bishnupur-Churachandpur road has been blocked for 12 days. The fresh violence has left five people dead since April 7, including two children. The two children, whose father serves in the BSF, were killed when a bomb exploded inside their home. Investigators are trying to reach there. But the roadblock has made their job difficult.
No arrests have been reported so far. Authorities face growing pressure as protests intensify and key roads remain blocked.Residents demand action. Civil society groups from the Meitei community have accused Kuki Zo insurgents of involvement and demanded withdrawal of Central forces. Authorities need to solve the issue before it is too late.
S.K. Chatterjee
Siliguri, West Bengal