Notebook covers uncover ‘forbidden world’ to kids
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Bhaderwah/Jammu, May 12
Parents try hard to keep their minor children away from nudity, violence and films, but what can they do when the cover of notebooks only give a peep into the forbidden world to the children?

This is exactly what is happening in the state where in the absence of any check or regulation on notebooks and registers used by children for writing lessons, these have become virtual platform of nudity.

Semi-clad Shilpa Shetty or other Bollywood heroines are all over the covers. So is blood splitting scenes from Hindi movies. Most popular is the topless Amir Khan in Ghazini, who has tattoos all over his body and seems to advocate violence and thirst for blood. Another popular hero is again the shirtless Salman Khan.

The Tribue found such notebooks on sale everywhere. From Jammu to Doda to Bhaderwah, shopkeepers selling these had purposely kept the books on a rack outside the counter.

“Books with plain covers used earlier have no buyers. Children want Ghazini or Shilpa or others,” says Mohd Ayaz, a stationery shop owner in Bhaderwah.

There was a time when the notebook covers had pictures of freedom fighters. “No book has patriotic messages on the covers or back pages. No notebook flashes save environment pictures and slogans. Bollywood, and it seems the worst part of it, has taken over,” rues Ajay Kumar, a local resident, who was shocked to see pictures on the notebooks of his 10-year-old daughter. He remembered books in his time carried moral science messages.

Not only notebooks, schoolbags also carry such pictures. Cartoons like Mickey Mouse are seen on bags of kids, but on bags for teenagers it is again the half-naked film stars and models.

There is no check or regulation on such obscene covers. Secretary, J&K Board of School Education (BOSE), Dr Sheikh Bashir Ahmad could only criticise the printing of such pictures.

He admits that though the BOSE has no control over the printing of notebook covers, but the department of stationary and supply or the director consumers affairs should constitute a censor board to have a check on such printings.

Expressing concern for the younger generation, he says such things are deteriorating the character of the young students.

Assuring that he would take up the matter, he says instead of printing useless things on the covers, the departments concerned should print mathematical equations or geographical diagrams on the notebook covers that could help the students to enhance their knowledge.