Book seized for printing Malala's picture was confiscated for want of NOC: PCTB

LAHORE: A day after the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board confiscated the copies of social studies book for grade 7 ostensibly for printing the picture of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai in a section featuring important personalities, the department clarified Tuesday that the publisher had not been issued a no-objection certificate mandatory for publication.

Pictures of some important personalities had been printed in the book -- published by the Oxford University Press -- that included founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah, national poet Muhammad Iqbal, educationist Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, slain prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan and his spouse Begum Ra'ana, philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, 1965 war hero Major Aziz Bhatti and Yousufzai.

غیر ملکی پبلشر کی جانب سے عزیز بھٹی شہد کے ساتھ ملالہ کی تصویر لگانے پر ایکشن۔ پنجاب ٹیکسٹ بک بورڈ نے آکسفورڈ سوشل سٹڈیز کی کتابوں کا سٹاک قبضے میں لے لیا ساتویں جماعت کی کتاب میں میجر عزیز بھٹی کی تصویر کے ساتھ ملالہ یوسف زئی کی تصویر چھاپی تھی pic.twitter.com/9ESx6Xf4lM

— Arshad Chaudhry (@arshdchaudhary) July 12, 2021

While the book was already circulated in various educational institutes, the officials, late on Monday, conducted a raid on the OUP office in Gulberg II and confiscated the entire stock of the book.

The book had been submitted to the PCTB for review and to seek a NOC in 2019, Dawn reported quoting a source. The board, after reviewing its contents, did not approve it for publishing but the company published the book nevertheless, it reported.

Last year, the board had directed all the publishers to get clearance certificates for publishing any book, besides imposing a heavy NOC fee for publishing Single National Curriculum textbooks.

It directed the publishers, printers and schools to get clearance and approval to publish any book from grade 1 to 12, warning of action under Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Amended Act, 2015 -- including the imposition of a fine or registration of criminal cases -- in case of violation.

Under the latest regime, the publishers are required to submit the publishing material to the board for getting approval and the certificate as no book would be allowed to be published without prior approval.