Asif Hassan—AFP
Shirin Dalvi, editor of Avadhnama, has already been released on bail.
Police in India have arrested and bailed the editor of an Urdu-language newspaper in Mumbai for reprinting a cartoon of Islam’s Prophet from satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Shirin Dalvi, editor of the Mumbai edition of the daily Avadhnama newspaper, was arrested by police in the town of Mumbra in Thane district, close to the financial capital. The editor was arrested under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which bans malicious and deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
“She was arrested by us, produced in the court and granted bail. We are investigating the matter,” said S. M. Mundhe, senior police inspector in Mumbra.
The Indian Express said several readers approached police in Mumbai and Thane after Avadhnama reprinted the Charlie Hebdo cover image, which was published after gunmen stormed the magazine’s offices in Paris on Jan. 7 and killed 12 people.
Mundhe did not confirm details of the Charlie Hebdo cover in question and AFP was unable to reach staff that could comment at Avadhnama, which has several editions across India.
Last week, tens of thousands across Indian-administered Kashmir, Afghanistan and Pakistan took to the streets to protest against Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon portrayal of Islam’s Prophet. Most Muslims consider images of the Prophet blasphemous and the magazine’s publishing of the cartoon has trigged protests in Muslim countries around the world.