Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 21: It may have surfaced late, but an irrelevant question asked in a University examination on sex between brothers and sisters perhaps indicate the degeneration in the level of education in Pakistan.
Social media is agog with the question paper asking for the views of the students of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (BEE) of the Islamabad-based COMSATS University about sex between brother and sister. Several celebrities and student bodies have slammed the “vulgar content” of the question paper and demanded that the vice chancellor and chancellor should be questioned. The screenshots of the question paper issued in December, last year, has just started circulating on several social media platforms, including Twitter, which show a “Julie and Mark scenario” and asks students to write an essay after reading the passage. The question paper also given some questions for the students to frame their answers.
“Julie and Mark are brother and sister. They are travelling together in France on summer vacation from college,” reads the question. “One night they are staying alone in a cabin near the beach. They decided that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love,” it continues. “At the very least, it would be a new experience for each of them.”
It then goes on to say the Julie was on birth control and Mark used a condom and that they both enjoyed being intimate together although they vowed never to do it again. In the questions that followed, the students were asked their views about the entire scenario and if it was fine for them to “make love.” They were also asked to give reasons and “include some relevant examples.” Social media, however, is not clear what the electrical engineering students academically got to do with sex between brother and sister.
“Shame on you @cuissbc. Your pathetic university should be sealed & the perverted teachers should be kicked out. Whoever asked this question should be behind bars. How dare you ask this filthy question?” actor and singer Mishi Khan said on Twitter.
“The top universities of Pakistan are on a mission to destroy the youth of Pakistan and our culture and religious values!” said some leaders of the former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
According to media reports, the teacher who gave the question has been identified as Professor Khair ul Bashar, who was fired and blacklisted by the university after an investigation. “The content of the quiz is highly objectionable and totally against the curriculum laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and caused unrest amongst the families of the students,” a letter from a university official read.