By Express News Service
PATNA: The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has been left red-faced after Kashmir was referred to as a separate country in a question paper given to Class 7 students of government schools in Kishanganj district. With the grand alliance government already facing a tough challenge from a belligerent BJP, the ex-ally of RJD, the Bihar government swung into damage control mode as soon as the issue started snowballing into a major controversy. The BJP has launched an attack on the government, with the latter ordering an inquiry into the matter.
State Education Minister Chandrashekhar, who belongs to the RJD, told the media that the Kishanganj district magistrate has been asked to conduct an inquiry and submit his report at the earliest. “It is a serious lapse and action would be taken against the guilty officers. It will not be considered a mistake,” he said.The controversial question appeared in the English half-yearly exam, wherein students were asked what citizens of Nepal, England, Kashmir and India are called.
The question paper was approved by the Bihar Education Project Council, which is an autonomous body of the state education department. “We received the question paper from Bihar Education Project Council. The question had to ask what people from Kashmir are called. It was a human error,” the headmaster of Asha Lata Middle School, Kishanganj, said.
PATNA: The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has been left red-faced after Kashmir was referred to as a separate country in a question paper given to Class 7 students of government schools in Kishanganj district. With the grand alliance government already facing a tough challenge from a belligerent BJP, the ex-ally of RJD, the Bihar government swung into damage control mode as soon as the issue started snowballing into a major controversy. The BJP has launched an attack on the government, with the latter ordering an inquiry into the matter.
State Education Minister Chandrashekhar, who belongs to the RJD, told the media that the Kishanganj district magistrate has been asked to conduct an inquiry and submit his report at the earliest. “It is a serious lapse and action would be taken against the guilty officers. It will not be considered a mistake,” he said.
The controversial question appeared in the English half-yearly exam, wherein students were asked what citizens of Nepal, England, Kashmir and India are called.
The question paper was approved by the Bihar Education Project Council, which is an autonomous body of the state education department. “We received the question paper from Bihar Education Project Council. The question had to ask what people from Kashmir are called. It was a human error,” the headmaster of Asha Lata Middle School, Kishanganj, said.
