Srinagar: A court in Jammu on July 13 (today) remanded three publishers to 10 days of police custody in connection with the investigation into the school books case. The development comes a day after the three were arrested by the Counter-Intelligence Jammu (CIJ) over their alleged role in publishing and distributing books that investigators claim contain objectionable material.The accused have been identified as Inderpaul Singh of Oberoi Book Service, Jammu, and Amardeep Singh and Girish Arora of Noida-based Dominant Publishers. They were produced before the court virtually. The arrests followed coordinated operations in Jammu and Delhi as part of an expanding probe into the publication and circulation of the books.The controversy centres around 251 copies of two books, one titled Personalities and Legends of J&K, co-authored by Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meenam and published by Oberoi Book Service, Jammu, and the second, titled Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir, authored by Sushant Giri and published by Anurag Prakashan, Delhi.The two books were supplied to government school libraries under the Union government’s Samagra Shiksha scheme. Politicians across party lines have condemned their content. According to the authorities, the two blacklisted books contained content glorifying separatism and were capable of disturbing public order in the region.The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s administration on July 4 issued a sweeping order to withdraw the books from school libraries, suspended eight School Education Department officials linked to the book review process, disengaged a contractual employee, and blacklisted the authors and publishers. It also ordered a high-level inquiry into the selection process.The controversy started after the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and other political parties objected to the books, alleging they contained “inappropriate content” despite being distributed under the Union government’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.The probing agency, Counter-Intelligence Kashmir (CIK), has lodged an FIR under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), invoking charges including criminal conspiracy, endangering the sovereignty and integrity of India, promoting enmity and circulating objectionable material. The CIK, on July 6, carried out searches at the publishers’ premises in Jammu and Noida.‘Heads of institutions can be held personally responsible’Officials said the investigation is examining the publishers’ role in printing and distributing the books, adding that further arrests have not been ruled out.The Lieutenant Governor’s administration had chaired a high-level review meeting and directed universities, colleges, schools and libraries across Jammu and Kashmir to certify that no such material was available on their premises. Heads of institutions were warned that they would be held personally responsible for any lapses and could face legal action.According to the statement, officials informed the review meeting that books allegedly glorifying separatism had been recovered from some educational institutions. The Lieutenant Governor directed the creation of a mechanism for future procurement of academic material, including periodic reviews by educationists, intellectuals and senior officials. Digital repositories and university websites have also been brought under scrutiny.The books were among 463 titles approved from 364 publishers for distribution to 18,328 government schools and 394 PM-SHRI schools under the Samagra Shiksha scheme after being recommended by expert committees.Also read: As L-G Asks for Greater Scrutiny of J&K Books, Questions on Academic Freedom, Erasure of HistoryThe FIR has been registered under Sections 49 (abetment), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (promoting enmity) and 353 (publishing or circulating false statements, rumours or reports) of the BNS, along with Section 13 of the UAPA.The controversy has also raised broader questions about oversight of educational material and the process by which books are selected for use in institutions across the UT.While the administration has said the measures are intended to prevent material that could mislead or radicalise students from entering educational institutions, academics and civil society members have argued that debates over history and dissent are intrinsic to democratic societies. “Determining whether a publication is appropriate should not be left solely to a security-based approach. Autonomous academic bodies, including vice-chancellors, principals and committees of subject experts, should examine such material and decide its academic relevance,” Kashmir based author and journalist Rao Farman Ali told The Wire.The administration has also proposed a standard operating procedure under which books entering educational institutions would undergo screening and periodic review before being made available to students.