HYDERABAD: Weeks after the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed receded from newspaper headlines, the Muslim quarter of Hyderabad has been set aflutter with the discovery of a Class IV text-book that bears a sketch of the founder of Islam.
And what was the sketch about?
The sketch, illustrating a parable of the Prophet's kindness and tolerance for even his opponents, appears in a book titled Moral Values, which is used by many primary schools in the Old City to teach moral science, a compulsory subject for Class IV students under the state syllabus.
The irony appears to have been lost on the Danish Muslims.
What was the publishers response to the Muslim ire?
The illustration accompanying this story shows the Prophet standing beside the old woman lying on her bed.
MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi sees in this episode a conspiracy to hurt Muslims. "An international agency has been working to provoke and disturb Muslims. After the caricature of the Prophet in Danish newspapers rocked the entire world, how come the writer and publisher of this book did not realise the implications?
We want the publisher and the author arrested immediately and an apology tendered to Muslims," Owaisi demanded. After the issue became public, Arkbird Publications withdrew the books, not just in Hyderabad, but also from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where they had been desptached.
Its director for AP, K B Prasad said, "Our intention was not to hurt but to tell a good story to children. All the remaining books will be destroyed.''
Repeat after me, appeasement never works.
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