The office of a publication house in Rajasthan was vandalised by Islamic extremists over certain text in a book published by it. The publication house Sanjiv Prakashan of Jaipur became the target of the fundamentalists after it was found that a book published by them had reference to Islamic Terrorism. The publication house was attacked after it had apologised for the text in the book.
According to reports, three persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. Images shared by ANI show that the furniture and printed books kept in the office of the Sanjiv Prakashan was lying on the floor after the attack.
The contentious content is in a book on Political Science for class 12. The book contains a question, ‘What is Islamic Terrorism?’. In the answer, it says that Islamic Terrorism is a form of Islam, which has become stronger in the last 20-30 years. It mentions that self-sacrifice and unlimited barbarism, blackmail, forced money-grabbing and brutal murders in the name of religion or Allah has become the characteristic of Islamic terrorism. The chapter further adds that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir comes under religious and separatist categories.
This was published in a ‘Pass Book’ for political science for class 12 published by Sanjiv Prakashan. It is not a main text book, but a guide book that contains questions and answers which help the students in preparing for the examinations.
Before the attack, several organisations and groups had raised objections against the book, including Rajasthan wing of the Students Islamic Organisation of India, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Rajasthan, Fraternity Movement etc. Following the outrage, Sanjiv Prakashan had issued an apology, and had also withdrawn the book.
In a letter written to an Islamic cleric, the publication house said that some wrong words were printed on the 395 of the book due to mistakes of the author. Sanjiv Prakashan issued an apology for the same, and informed that they have stopped the sale of the book from the wholesalers, so that it can’t be sold in the market. They added that they will soon recall the book and destroy it.