A purported picture of a Bengal faculty’s mannequin query paper, asking college students to mark “Azad Kashmir” in a map, has gone viral on social media, with Union minister Subhas Sarkar on Tuesday calling for a state-level inquiry into the matter.

He said that the issue should not be taken lightly by the state government.

Sarkar, when shown the widely circulated image during a press meet on the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha 2023’, told PTI that the Union government will also look into the issue.

In the purported question paper, issued in an exercise book of a Bengali-medium school for students of Class 10, the paper setter has asked them to identify several places on the map – Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (referred to as ‘Azad Kashmir’ in Pakistan), the place where Gandhiji had first undertaken the Satyagraha movement, and the Chittagong battle ground.

The Bankura MP said,”I urge the state schooling minister to look into the difficulty. In case it’s discovered to be true, acceptable motion must be taken towards the writer and paper setter. The take a look at paper must be instantly withdrawn and the query deleted.” PTI didn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the picture.

Sarkar further went on to say that the incident, if true, can be attributed to the “appeasement politics of the TMC-run government which has emboldened some people to insert a question with anti-national overtones in the test paper”.

West Bengal Board of Secondary Education President Ramanuj Ganguly stated a probe can be performed into the matter and mandatory motion can be taken accordingly.

“We don’t but know what prompted the take a look at paper setter to incorporate a query like that. We will discover it out and take mandatory motion,” he added.

Efforts to reach out to state education minister Bratya Basu proved futile.

TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh later told PTI his party doesn’t support anything that is wrong.

“If someone has set such a question, he has done the wrong thing. We don’t support such acts.

“The TMC is a secular party which does not believe in appeasing any particular community. Sarkar has made a baseless comment against our party,” Ghosh said.

Various colleges and academics’ affiliation, in addition to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, difficulty particular person mannequin query papers yearly to assist the preparations of board examinees.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed)