Kashmir teacher arrested for test questions based on protests

Dec 11, 2010, 11:51 GMT

New Delhi - A college teacher in India-administered Kashmir has been arrested for writing exams that including questions based on pro-independence protests - and the sometimes deadly suppression thereof by Indian authorities - according to news reports Saturday.

Noor Mohammad Bhat, a teacher at Gandhi Memorial College in Srinagar, the state capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested Thursday night after the Kashmir University authorities lodged a complaint with the police saying Bhat had written up an objectionable series of questions, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

The Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley has seen violent anti-India protests since June. At least 110 protesters have been killed in the demonstrations, mostly due to police and paramilitary gunfire.

Most of the victims have been youths and children.

The students appearing for the exam on Wednesday were asked, among other questions, 'Are stone pelters real heroes? Discuss.'

They were also asked to translate a passage titled 'Eid in curfew' from Urdu to English. Urdu is an Indian language that has evolved from a fusion of Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit.

The passage included sentences that would be translated as: 'Kashmir is burning again. The blood of the youth is being spilled like water. Children are being beaten to death by the police and army ... Yet the rulers seem to be in deep slumber,' the Indian Express reported.

Bhat had been detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after university authorities lodged a complaint, Srinagar senior superintendent of police Ashiq Bukhari was quoted as saying.

'The lecturer framed a question paper for BA, BSc (undergraduate degrees in arts and sciences) first year in which he used wrong language against the state,' Bukhari said.

Kashmir University Vice Chancellor Riyaz Punjabi denied that the university had approached the police.

The disputed Kashmir region is divided into parts controlled by India and Pakistan. Both claim the entire region and have fought two wars over it.

A deep anti-India sentiment is often evident in India-administered Kashmir. Violent protests and a militant secessionist movement - which peaked in the late 1980s - has led to the deaths of more than 45,000 civilians, security forces and militants.

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