A question on a Class 7 exam question paper in a Bihar school allegedly distinguished Kashmir from India, igniting a new controversy.
Mid-term examinations for students in grades from one to eight were held by the Bihar government's Education Department from October 12 to October 18.
It was brought to light when students in class seven were asked in their English exam: "What are the people of the following countries called ? One is done for you.
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The paper setter used China as an example, asking, "If the Chinese are called Chinese, what are the people of Nepal, England, Kashmir, and India called?" This question, according to reports, was posed to these students in Araria, Kishanganj, and Katihar, and it "highlighted the mindset" of the paper maker and setter.
"We got this via Bihar Education Board. The question had to ask what are people from Kashmir called? But it mistakenly carried as what are people of the country of Kashmir called? This was human error," explained Headteacher SK Das.
District Education Officer Subhash Kumar Gupta, on the other hand, refused to speak about the matter on camera.
Meanwhile, educationists and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have claimed that the matter is a conspiracy and have asked the Union Education Minister to investigate.
Sanjay Jaiswal, state president of the Bihar BJP, took to social media and shared an image of the question paper with the caption: "...Bihar givernment is still silent on my concern that they feel Kashmir as not a part of India. This question itself advocates that the officials in Bihar government consider Kashmir as a different country as Nepal, England, China, and India," he wrote this on a Facebook post in Hindi.
He also claimed that "Nitish Kumar is so restless with his desire to become the Prime Minister that they are inflicting anti-national question papers on the children of class 7." More information on this subject is awaited.
Notably, a similar question was asked in Bihar in 2017, and a student in the Vaishali district pointed out the error.
(With inputs from ANI)
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