Gujarat Christians submit memo over demon row

Surat, June 12, 2017: Christians from across the city and district submitted a memorandum to the district collector over the class IX Hindi textbook published by Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB) that had printed adjective ‘hevaan’ or demon for Jesus Christ.

Christians from Syrian Church, Pentecost, Brethren Mission, Protestant, Roman Catholic and other denominations have expressed shock over the textbook referring Jesus Christ as a demon. Christians took out a rally and submitted a memorandum to district collector Mahendra Patel here today.

Chapter 16 in the textbook titled ‘Bharatiya sanskriti mein guru-shishya sambandh’ (teacher-student relationship in Indian culture) says, “Is sambandh me hevaan Isa ka ek kathan sada smaraniya hai (In this context, one statement of demon Jesus is always memorable). Jesus Christ is quoted as saying, “My followers are much greater than me and I am not worthy enough to even untie their shoes.”

Spokesperson and presbyter-in-charge, Reverend Dennis E Amin said, “Christians are a peace-loving community. It seems there is a deliberate attempt to instigate the community by using the word ‘demon’ for Jesus Christ. We are followers of Jesus Christ and it hurts when such a mistake is committed.”

Amin added, “The religious leaders had pointed out to the chairman of GSSTB and chairman of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) and sought removal of the word ‘hevaan’ from the textbooks around a month back. Still the children in class IX are reading this. We want chief minister Vijay Rupani to take prompt action in this matter.”

– times of india