Hamadan is capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran not ‘Turkistan’, rebukes Dr. Rafiq Masoodi
Reyaz Rashid
Baramulla: A case of distortion of historical facts and wrong information being disseminated to students has surfaced in St. Joseph High Secondary School Baramulla as an Urdu text book of class 4th titled ‘Jadeed Kaleed-e-Urdu’ reads that revered saint Amir-e-Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was born in Hamdaan city of ‘Turkistan’ which is incorrect as Hamadan is capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran not ‘Turkistan’.
Former Secretary J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages and former Director Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar Rafiq Ahmed Masoodi talking to SNS Kashmir that he was shocked to see that a Urdu text book being taught to students in St. Joseph High Secondary School Baramulla reads that revered saint and founder of Islam in Kashmir -e-Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was born in Hamdaan city of ‘Turkistan’ while as Hamdan is in Iran.
“What teachers were teaching and what parents were feeding their wards? Is there nobody to check the content of the text books of private schools,” asked Masoodi.
A book seller in Baramulla said that termed the selection and prescription of text books by private schools a ‘Mafia’ as there is deal between publishers from Delhi and private school managements.
“Publishers from Delhi grease palms of the schools heads with hands booty for selection of text books published by them. There is no content check and parents consent in selection of books, it just a money game and parents have to bear the brunt,” he said.
A noted writer and Islamic scholar Salik Bilal rued the distortion of historical facts in the Urdu text and wrong information about the noted Islamic preacher who has brought Islam to Kashmir.
‘ We want content check of text books of private schools like there is board in JKBOSE for content compiling and scrutiny,” he added
“Amir-e- Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) the saint and his saintly works are integral to ‘K’ narrative of more or less 750 years –mid 14th century onwards. Study of Kashmir from any perspective—historical, socio-cultural, economic would be incomplete without reference to the much revered Amir-e-Kabir. His work and deft approach impacted all aspects of human activity in Kashmir. Irrespective of his ethnicity, his footprints could be seen from Hamadan, across Central Asia—where he lies buried in Khatlan to Kashmir. In Kashmir, his name is associated with a change, which was nothing short of a renaissance,” writes a widely read senior columnist Dr. Javid Iqbal.
Repeated attempts to contact Principal St. Joseph High Secondary School Baramulla bore no fruits as he didn’t pick up the repeated calls from this correspondent.
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