Books banned by PCTB

LAHORE: Of 100 books banned by Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) recently, for profane and anti-Pakistan content, 65 books are of the subject Social Studies, 15 of Urdu, 12 of Islamiyat and 8 of English.

While class-wise maximum of these books i.e., 24 were being taught to grade-4 students, 19 to grade-3 students, 18 to grade-2 students, 17 to grade-1 students, 13 to grade-5 students, 4 to grade-6 students, 3 to grade-7 students and one each to Class 9th and 10th.

Oxford University Press (OUP) has maximum of the banned books i.e., 14 while rest of the other publishers have less than 10 books to their credit. On July 23, the PCTB Managing Director Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir had announced banning of these 100 books, being taught in private schools, for carrying blasphemous and anti-Pakistan content.

Talking to The News, Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir said the PCTB teams had examined 500 books in the first phase and of these 100 were banned. He said the textbook board was examining 10,000 books of private publishers being taught in private schools across the province.

As per section 10 of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Act 2015 “No person shall, except with the prior approval of the Board, print, publish, sell or prescribe in an institution any textbook or supplementary material.” When asked Rai Manzoor Nasir said none of the publishers had sought approval of the PCTB for these books. He, however, added that the PCTB would issue NOCs to the publishers once they rectify the mistakes pointed out by the board’s teams and publish new books. He said some publishers had made glaring mistakes and distorted facts in the books of Islamiyat which fell under the blasphemy laws. He added the PCTB did not go for the registration of FIR and as the first step immediately banned the books. He strongly condemned malicious campaign against the PCTB on social media for banning these books.

Rai Manzoor Nasir said some publishers had apologised and were willing to rectify the mistakes and wrong information and publish the books again. Some of the banned books seen by The News carry profane content while Social Studies books carry distorted facts and especially wrong maps as even Gilgit-Baltistan has not been shown as part of Pakistan. Some of the books carry wrong dates vis-à-vis dates of birth of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal while there is also misinformation about districts and administrative divisions of Punjab province and total population of Pakistan.

Class 1 books and their publishers are Hamza Deeniyat by Ameer Haider & Company, Aiman Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Qurtaba Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Bookwise Social Studies by Bookwise Publishers, Elegant Social Studies by Hallmark Publications, Ammar Social Studies by Ameer Haider & Company, Hamza Social Studies by Ameer Haider & Company, Sun Imperial Social Studies by Hallmark Publications, Noor ul Ain Urdu by ReBook Publishers, Social Studies by Super Star Publishers, My Social Studies Book by Umair Publications, Social Studies by Zarak Publishing Company, Qurtaba Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Pelican Social Studies by Urooj Publications, Paragon Social Studies by Paragon Books, Active English Workbook by Oxford University Press and English Classbook by United we Reach,

Class 2 books and their publishers are Pak Cambridge Islamiyat by Pak Cambridge Publishing, Hamza Islamiyat by Ameer Haider & Company, Paragon Islamiyat by Paragon Books , Fundamental Social Studies by Limelight Publishers, Secondary Social Studies for Pakistan by Oxford University Press, Pak Cambridge Social Studies by Pak Cambridge Publishing, Pak Cambridge Urdu by Pak Cambridge Publishing, Aiman Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Qurtaba Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Vision Social Studies by Ch. Ghulam Rasool & Sons, Zeena-e-Urdu by Ali Brothers , Qurtaba Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Ammar Social Studies by Ameer Haider & Company, Imperial Social Studies by Hallmark Publications, Social Studies of Pakistan by Javed Publishers, Green Land Social Studies by Shahid Educational Publisher, My Social Studies by Umair Publications and Oxford International English by Oxford University Press

Class 3 books and their publishers are Islamiyat by Bright Way Publishers Publications, Pelican Taleem ul Islam by Urooj Publications, New Oxford Social Studies for Pakistan by Oxford University Press, Pak Cambridge Social Studies by Pak Cambridge Publishing, Social Studies by Zarak Publishing Company, Hamari Urdu by Oxford University Press, Pak Cambridge Urdu by Pak Cambridge Publishing, Fundamental Social Studies by Limelight Publishers, Qurtaba Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Ammar Social Studies by Ameer Haider & Company, Sun Imperial Social Studies (Step-3) by Hallmark Publications I am SOCIAL STUDIES by Javed Publishers Pioneer Social Studies by Pioneer Books Publishers, Urdu ki Tesri Kitab by Rehbar publishers, Social Studies by Super Star Publishers, A New Way Social Studies Time Star by Time Star Publishers, Exploring Series Social Studies by Snowman Publishers, Pelican Social Studies by Urooj Publications and Urdu Ki Kitab by Javed Publishers.

Class 4 books and their publishers are Paragon Islamiyat by Paragon Books, Pelican Taleem ul Islam by Urooj Publications, We Learn Social Studies by Oxford University Press. We and Social Studies by Oxford University Press, Know Your World - Social Studies by Oxford University Press, Fundamental Social Studies by Limelight Publishers, Aiman Social Studies by A.S Publishers, Vision Social Studies by Ch. Ghulam Rasool & Sons, Ammar Social Studies by Ameer Haider & Company, Marigold Social Studies by Babar Book Depot, Mounthill Social Studies by Gohar Publishers, Eton Social Studies by Nawaz and Bashir Sons Publishers, Urdu 4 by Rehbar, Al Muamtaz Series Social Studies by Sadiq Publications, Social Studies by Sadiq Publications, A New Way Social Studies Time Star by Time Star Publishers, Pelican Social Studies by Urooj Publications, Social Studies by Zarak Publishing Company, Sarmaya-e-Urdu by Tehzib Sons, Urdu ki Kitab by Javed Publishers, Step to English by Rehbar Publishers, Marigold English by Babar Book Depot, Urdu Qawaid o Insha by Ch. Ghulam Rasool & Sons and Zara Anmol Urdu by Zarak Publishing Company.

Class 5 books and their publishers are Daniyat by Hallmark Publications, Salam Islamiyat by Oxford University Press, Islamiayt by AS Publishers, Paragon Islamiyat by Paragon Books, We and Social Studies by Oxford University Press, Know Your World - Social Studies by Oxford University Press, New Oxford Social Studies by Oxford University Press, Linkways Social Studies by Link International Pakistan Karachi, Zeena-e-Urdu by Ali Brothers, Paragon Social Studies by Paragon Books, Social Studies by Sadiq Publications, Vision Series Social Studies by Ch. Ghulam Rasool & Sons and Eton Social Studies by Nawaz and Bashir Sons.

Class 6 books and their publishers are Secondary Social Studies for Pakistan by Bookwise Publishers, Mounthill Social Studies by Gohar Publishers, Pelican Urdu by Urooj Publications, Marigold Social Studies by Babar Book Depot

Class 7 books and their publishers are We Learn Social Studies by Oxford University Press, Cambridge Checkpoint English course book by Cambridge University Press Books, Maqbool Urdu Dan by Maqbool Books. For class 9 Cambridge Checkpoint English course book by Cambridge University Press and for class 9th and 10th Guided English for Middle and Secondary School by Oxford University Press.