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New Delhi:
Acting on reports that a Uttar Pradesh school text book carried
the picture of Prophet Mohammed, which is against the tenet of
Islam, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Monday said
the authorities have been instructed to remove the publication.
"The ministry taking cognizance of reports, requested the
chairman, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE),
as also secretary, Basic Education, and Principal Secretary,
department Of home, in the government of Uttar Pradesh, to take
urgent measures to ensure that all necessary corrective measures
are taken immediately to remove the offending publication," Sibal
said in an official statement.
The HRD minister said the CISCE in its response has said the
copies of the text book will be withdrawn from the market and also
retrieved from the students.
"CISCE has informed that the publisher of the book (Active
Publishers, Garh Road, Meerut, UP) has tendered a public apology
and the same has been published in the local newspapers in Lucknow.
The publisher has also conveyed to the CISCE that he has met the
concerned complainants and personally apologised to them," Sibal
said.
"CISCE has further informed this ministry that the publisher has
withdrawn the book from the market and also that books in hand
will be withdrawn once the school reopens after summer vacation."
Muslim community leaders have condemned the publication of a
picture of the Prophet.
"It is very sad, condemnable and intolerable. Everyone knows that
it is not allowed in Islam to draw a sketch or picture of Prophet
Muhammad. I don't know it willingly or unwillingly, but anyhow it
is highly condemnable. Government should take strict action
against the guilty people," Mufti Mukarram, Shahi Imam of historic
Fatehpuri Mosque, told IANS.
"The whole world knows and several times it has been cleared that
according to Islam it is a crime to draw the Prophet," Syed
Jalaluddin Umari, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, told IANS.
"Repeated acts like these hurt the sentiments of Muslims," he
said.
Mufti Mukarram, meanwhile, urged the government to issue
guidelines to the media and publishers to avoid such kind of
incidents.
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