Kashmir teacher arrested for controversial exam questions

SRINAGAR - A Srinagar college teacher, who had set a controversial question paper for graduate level exams in which stone pelters were glorified, was arrested Friday, police said.

“Noor Muhammad Bhat, a teacher in Gandhi Memorial College in Srinagar, was arrested by the police from his Fateh Kadal residence today evening,” Srinagar police chief Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari told IANS.

“He has been arrested under the Unlawful Activities Act and a team of investigators has been constituted to probe the entire incident,” he added.

The B.A./B.Sc./B.com. first year English question paper, set by Bhat, carried a question asking students to “discuss the stone pelters as real heroes”.

Another question in translation from Urdu to English said: “The blood of young Kashmiris is being spilled by the Indian security forces as the state government watches the situation helplessly.”

“Separatist politics cannot be allowed to enter into the curriculum of our youth,” another senior police officer said.

The five-month unrest in the Kashmir Valley earlier this year left 110 people dead, mostly youths who pelted stones at the security forces.

Besides leaving a strong impression on the minds of the youth, the unrest has also cost local students dear as schools and colleges remained virtually closed for over four months.