Jammu: The Vice Chancellor of Jammu University has constituted a high-level committee to examine the syllabus of the Political Science postgraduate course after it was involved in a major controversy over the inclusion of a chapter on the political thought of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.According to an order issued by the office of the Dean of Academic Affairs, the committee has been tasked to “thoroughly review the issue and submit its report at the earliest”. The panel will be led by Professor Naresh Padha, Department of Physics, and will include heads of the departments of Philosophy, History and Sociology, and directors of the Department of Strategic and Area Studies. Assistant Registrar (Academic Affairs) will function as Member Secretary.ABVP workers had protested in the university on Friday demanding withdrawal of the chapter on Jinnah. The protesters, led by ABVP Jammu and Kashmir secretary Sannak Shrivatsa, raised slogans against the administration and warned that if the material was not taken back they would be “forced to launch a strong democratic movement throughout Jammu and Kashmir”.“Our government should take note that the Department of Political Science at Jammu University has released its syllabus for 2026-2028… and some individuals are being presented as representatives of minorities, including Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” Srivatsa said. These are the same individuals who propounded the two-nation theory and played a role in Partition and “teaching about them raises serious concerns”, he said.Srivatsa further said, “We will wait and see what the committee suggests. The university authorities should understand that academic freedom does not mean neglect of national sentiments.”Professor Baljit Singh Mann, head of the department of political science, had on Friday defended the curriculum, saying the inclusion of Jinnah and others is “purely academic” and in line with the curriculum followed by universities across the country as well as UGC norms. He said, “Our aim is to present different viewpoints so that students can assess the merits and demerits and distinguish between right and wrong. This is an academic exercise, not advocacy.”When asked by media persons on Saturday, he said that he had already made his stand clear and stood by what he had said a day earlier.