A Class 9 Hindi textbook published by the Gujarat State School Textbook Board has referred to the Jesus Christ as ‘haivaan’ or demon, drawing massive criticism from the Christian community that the error was pointed out to the government over a month back.
As per a Deccan Herald report, the state education minister and the chairman of the textbook board said that the error will soon be fixed, citing it to be a typographical error.
The error was spotted in chapter 16 of the book titled “Bharatiya Sanskriti Mein Guru-Shishya Sambandh” (relationship between a student and a teacher in Indian culture) on page 70, wherein a line reads “Iss sambandh mein haivan Isa ka ek kathan sadaa smaraniya hain” (In the given context, words of demon Jesus shall always be remembered).
Nitin Pethani, the chairman of the GSSTB, told News18, “The word “haiva”, a disciple of Jesus Christ, got misprinted as “haivan”, meaning a demon,” adding that “Aadam Isa” and “Haiva Isa” were the two disciples of Christ and an “n” inadvertently got printed in the book.
Advocate Subramaniam Iyer, who first spotted the error, said that the error, howsoever caused, was unacceptable and attracts section 295(a) of the IPC, which pertains to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class.
Spokesperson of Catholic Church of Gujarat Fr Vinayak Jhadav told the Times of India that over a month back the error was pointed out to the GSSBT chairman, who did not think it important to respond following which the matter was taken to the state education minister.
(Feature image source: Twitter)