Amman - (AFP) - The Jordanian Ministry of Culture decided to withdraw the novel "Mira" by Jordanian writer Qassem Tawfiq from the market after it was criticized for having "sexual overtones" in it.
Since yesterday, social networking sites in Jordan have witnessed widespread controversy and anger because of the novel, which many saw as "offending modesty" and "containing sexual overtones," according to their description.

"It was decided to withdraw the novel 'Mira' by the Jordanian writer Qassem Tawfiq, which was published by a Jordanian publishing house three years ago, and it was republished as part of the family library program for this year," Ahmed Rashid, the acting Secretary-General of the Ministry and Director of the Family Library Program, said in a statement.

He explained that ""the novel was withdrawn from the Reading for All exhibitions in the various distribution centers in the Kingdom as a result of remarks received from some visitors to the sales centers."

Rashid emphasized that "the ministry is in the process of re-evaluating the novel to find out the critical justifications directed at it."

Many transmitted pictures from the pages of the novel through the WhatsApp application, describing in detail sexual behavior and movements, and naked bodies.

And the Jordanian Parliament decided, after a session that witnessed the interventions of deputies objecting to the novel, to “refer” the novel to the Parliamentary National Steering Committee, tasking it with “investigating and making recommendations about what was mentioned in the novel.”

"This novel offends the Jordanian family and the moral values of the Jordanian state," Representative Yanal Freihat said in his speech before the House of Representatives.

He added, "At a time when our security services are sacrificing the lives of their personnel in order to protect our youth from drugs, the Ministry of Culture is doing more dangerous work through drugs and moral corruption that it spreads among our children and generations."

The novelist Qasim Tawfiq, 68, is one of the most prominent Arab novelists. He has published more than 20 books, including novels and collections of short stories, and he is the recipient of the Katara International Prize.

Rashid stressed that the Ministry of Culture, despite its withdrawal of the novel, "does not exercise a guardianship role over readers who have multiple sources to obtain cultural knowledge in its various forms and means."

The events of the novel take place in the nineties of the last century between the Jordanian capital, Amman, and the city of Novi Sad in the former Yugoslavia, when a young Jordanian Muslim, Raad, traveled to study to meet the nurse, Mira. The story tells of a strong love relationship before they got married and had Shadi and Rajaa. With the outbreak of the civil war in Yugoslavia in June 1992, the couple decide to go to Oman. But years later, Shadi, who had volunteered with the Serbian army against Bosnia, before moving to his parents' home in Amman, stabbed his mother with a kitchen knife after he heard men describe her as a prostitute.