Jabalpur (MP), Jul 22, PTI: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has been listed among 'great personalities' in a Class III book of a private school here.

The former military dictator, considered the architect of the 1999 Kargil War with India, features among "six great personalities" in one the lessons of the book, which also carries his picture.

The District Bar Association (DBA) in Jabalpur has taken a strong objection to the lesson and complained to the district authorities in this regard, following which Christ Asha School at Awadhpuri here, has withdrawn the book.

"The book written by Pankaj Jain and published by Gayatri Publication has put Musharraf's picture among the portraits of six great personalities," Amit Sahu and Vinay Mishra of the DBA said.

"This is highly objectionable. Under the Musharraf regime in Pakistan, the Kargil War took place, in which many Indian soldiers lost their lives," they said.

It is a folly on the part of the state and central education departments that a lesson is being taught to children at this tender age, which shows Musharraf as a great personality, Sahu said adding, "This amounts to playing with the future of the children."
A DBA delegation has filed a petition to the District Magistrate (Collector) S N Rupla in this regard, in which they have sought action against the writer of the book as well as its publisher.

The book, however, claims that its contents were in accordance with the syllabus of National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT).
When contacted, the Collector told PTI that following the complaint, he has written a letter to the NCERT in Delhi, and state departments concerned two days back to look into the issue. "The departments concerned will take a call on it," Rupla said. Principal of the school, Manorama Awasthi, said, "When the content of the book was brought to our notice, we immediately withdrew it."