Srinagar: The listing of revolutionary politician and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, as among the “most evil people of the world” in a Class 6 textbook has triggered a major row in Jammu and Kashmir.
Acuber Books International, the Uttar Pradesh-based publisher, has apologised for the “deeply offensive” characterisation of the Iranian leader and promised to rectify the error.
In That’s Right – 6, a sixth standard textbook of general knowledge and current affairs, the publisher had listed Khomeini, who served as the first supreme leader of Iran, as one of the “most evil people of the world” alongside former dictator of North Korea Kim Il-sung and former emperor of Japan Hirohito, who led the country into the World War II.
The book, which is reportedly a part of the curriculum taught at some private schools in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, states that Khomeini, who is revered as a religious leader and Islamic scholar by Shia Muslims across the world, committed “many evil deeds” as the religious leader of Iran from 1979 to 1989.
“He used to kill people who didn’t believe in ‘Allah’. People had to face brutality even if they listened to music. He was the culprit behind the Iranian revolution and also the Iran-Iraq war making him responsible for deaths of millions of people,” the book states.
A statement by the book’s publisher said it was not aimed at “[spreading] misinformation or [contributing] to the propagation of harmful narratives”.
“The book is proposed to be part of the school curriculum for young students on the threshold of their academic career to garner cheap popularity for its absolutely blasphemous and venomous content against Imam Khomeini, who is reverentially looked upon as a charismatic leader of immense popularity and a champion of Islamic revivalism,” Rizvi said in a legal notice to the publisher.
Denouncing the characterisation of the Iranian leader, Anjuman-e-Sharie Shiayan, a prominent organisation of Shia Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, said in a statement that Imam Khomeini was the “most respected and morally, religiously and politically impactful Muslim leader of the last century”.
“His leadership continues to inspire millions to fight against tyranny and injustice. This characterisation comes out of utter malice from the publisher without any coherence to facts. President Anjuman-e-Sharie Shiayan, Aga Syed Mohammad Hadi, condemns this act of prejudice to history and Islam. A legal course of action against the publisher will follow,” the statement said.
Sajjad Kargili, a Ladakh-based social activist, said that the book was “hateful and Islamophobic”.
“Imam Khomeini was a renowned scholar, a leader of millions of Shia Muslims and a globally respected personality. The government should take prompt action and remove these books from the market,” he said.
The All J&K Shia Association, another powerful body of Shia Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, urged the government of India to take action against the publisher.
“Imam is a universal personality who is admired by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The government should take serious and swift action against the publisher for hurting our sentiments,” Molvi Syed Adeel, a spokesperson for the association, said.
The book has been published by Q-Connect Books, a division of Acuber Books International, a Meerut-based publishing house whose owners have apologised for the “inadvertent mistake” and promised to take the book off the market.
“Labelling him [Khomeini] among the ‘most evil men in history’ is not only inaccurate but also deeply offensive to many individuals and communities. We acknowledge the gravity of our mistake and recognise that such mischaracterisation not only undermines truth and justice but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes,” the publisher said in a statement.
The statement said that the book was not aimed at “[spreading] misinformation or [contributing] to the propagation of harmful narratives”.
“We are taking immediate steps to rectify the situation. We are committed to reviewing and revising our content to ensure accuracy, fairness, and sensitivity in our representations. Additionally, we will be issuing a formal correction and apology in our upcoming publications and online platforms,” it said.
In 1989, Khomeini – who was Time magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 1979 for his international influence – issued a fatwa calling for the execution of novelist Salman Rushdie following the publication of his ‘blasphemous’ novel The Satanic Verses and all those involved in its publication.