3 min readJammuUpdated: Mar 23, 2026 06:26 AM IST
A committee on Sunday recommended that topics on Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Muhammad Iqbal be removed from the MA Political Science syllabus at Jammu University’s Department of Political Science.
Officials said the recommendation was made at a meeting of the faculty and departmental affairs committee that was held on Sunday. This comes amid a controversy over the inclusion of Jinnah in a chapter on “minorities and nations” in the syllabus of postgraduate courses at the department.
Following protests by the ABVP over the inclusion of Jinnah in the syllabus, university vice chancellor Umesh Rai had set up a committee headed by Professor Naresh Padha of the Physics Department to examine the Political Science syllabus.
Earlier, Jinnah had appeared in a chapter on the “two-nation theory”, said Sannak Shrivats, ABVP’s J&K state secretary, who led a protest on campus Friday. However, in the revised syllabus, Jinnah appears in a chapter on “Minorities and the Nations”, Shrivats said, arguing that this portrayed him as a leader of minorities in India.
The committee not only recommended the removal of topics on Jinnah from the syllabus, but also topics on Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, widely regarded as the principal architect of the “two-nation theory”, and Muhammad Iqbal, who is regarded as the national poet of Pakistan.
The recommendation has been forwarded to the Board of Studies (BoS) for consideration. The BoS is scheduled to meet on March 24 for further deliberation on the matter.
Earlier, the head of the Political Science Department at Jammu University, Baljit Singh Mann, had defended the syllabus, saying the inclusion of Jinnah and other thinkers is purely academic and consistent with curricula followed by universities nationwide, as well as UGC norms.
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Pointing out that an unnecessary controversy was being created over a purely academic issue, he said the university does not promote any ideology but presents diverse viewpoints to enable critical evaluation.
This is not the first time the university’s Political Science department has courted controversy.
In 2018, a row erupted after a video clip that showed a professor from the department calling freedom fighter Bhagat Singh a terrorist. The professor was suspended, and an inquiry was initiated following the controversy. He later expressed regret, saying he was quoted out of context.
