Tahir Ashrafi criticized “propaganda”, saying that the book about Malala’s image was banned due to the National Olympic Committee issue

• “There is unfounded propaganda,” Tahir Ashrafi said.
• He said that textbooks were banned because of NOC issues, not because of Malala.
• He added that “rural riots” based on lies.
  

The Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Tahir Ashrafi, on Thursday lashed out at the “propaganda” campaign being carried out by the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Committee, and expressed concern for schools that contain the image of educational activist Malala Yusufzai The textbook crackdown was due to the no-objection certificate (NOC) issue.

Ashrafi said at a press conference in Lahore: “A baseless propaganda is happening. […] Our goal is to promote peace in the country. “

He said that the Punjab Parliament recently passed a law-Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam Bill 2020-under which religious textbooks supervise religious affairs.

“Muttahida Ulema Board (MUB) [earlier] Reviewed more than 150 textbooks and sent them out [recommendations] Related agencies,” the special representative said.

Ashrafi said that MUB will review the book after receiving it.

He said: “Based on lies and slander, the country has caused an uproar, which is condemned and unfortunate.”

The special assistant said two days ago that a campaign was launched against banned textbooks that contained images of Malala. The campaign “violated the values ​​of journalism because it did not take the position of the accused party”.

“A false campaign was launched against the Punjab government, the textbook committee and the Muttahida Ulema committee,” Ashrafi said.

“If Benazir and Malala are not your heroes, God will help you”

A day ago, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman accused the Punjab government of banning textbooks.

Speaking in the Senate, the senator said: “If you can’t regard Benazir Bhutto and Malala Yusufzai as your heroes, then only God can help you.”

Rahman said that the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) has removed the image of Malala, just as the image of former Prime Minister Benazir has been removed from the textbook.

“Malala Yousafzai faced extremists and got a bullet in return,” she said, asking what kind of messages the government plans to send to the country’s youth.

“You (the government) say we are a progressive society […] What kind of message is conveyed here, shouldn’t we fight extremism? She asked.

The lawmaker said that the textbook committee-through its actions-wrongly portrayed Malala as not a hero. “You (Prime Minister Imran Khan) called Osama bin Laden a martyr and called him a terrorist here.”

HRCP clause prohibits “new lows”

Two days ago, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) requested the PCTB to immediately revoke the order to confiscate related textbooks.

The pictures on one page of the book circulated on social media indicate that the book was confiscated for including Malala’s photos on the list of important people.

According to published in dawn, Some photos of important people have been published on page 33 of this book. They include Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, national poet Allama Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan, legendary philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan, Nishan-i-Haider recipient Maj Aziz Bhatti Shaheed and Activist Malala Yousufzai.

“PCTB confiscated a textbook-allegedly because it had photos of Nobel Prize winner and rights activist @Malala Yousafzai-a new low in the state’s attempts to control information and manipulate public discourse,” HRCP posted on Twitter Said in a statement. .

“PCTB must withdraw the order immediately,” it added.

After being strongly opposed, the PCTB issued a clarification statement stating that although it did not issue a no-objection certificate, it had confiscated the social studies book at the time of publication.

A PCTB spokesperson said that the entire inventory of the book was purchased from a book market in Lahore and clarified that Malala’s image was not the problem.

He said it was published by a private publisher without a NOC.

Last year, the PCTB banned the teaching of 100 textbooks in private schools, arguing that they were “anti-ethnic” and “blasphemous”.

According to the list of banned books obtained by Geo.tv, there are 17 books in the first class, 18 books in the second class, 19 books in the third class, 24 books in the fourth class, 13 books in the fifth class, 4 books in the class VI, three of the VII classes, and the class IX One of class IX and one of class X.