Muslim woman editor arrested for reprinting 'Charlie Hebdo' cartoons

The woman editor of an Urdu daily was arrested for reprinting a controversial cartoon of Prophet Mohammed which was first published by the French weekly "Charlie Hebdo" but later released on bail, police said Thursday.

Shirin Dalvi, the editor of "Avadhnama", was arrested by Mumbra Police Wednesday and produced before a magistrate who granted her bail.

"She was arrested on charges pertaining to hurting religious sentiments and related issues by reprinting a controversial cartoon of Prophet Mohammed," an police official said.

In its Jan 17 Mumbai edition, "Avadhnama" had published the same cartoon which had resulted in the attack on the offices of 'Charlie Hebdo' in Paris Jan 7, leaving 11 dead and another 11 injured.

"Avadhnama" is published from Lucknow, Faizabad, Aligarh, Azamgarh and Saharanpur, while the Mumbai edition was launched around a year ago.

A local citizen, identified as Nusrat Ali complained to the Mumbra Police on the Urdu tabloid which carried the cartoon, contending it hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community and could create hatred among communities.

Soon after the complaint in Thane and similar complaints in Mumbai by various individuals, the Mumbra police investigated the matter and arrested Dalvi, the official said.

The decision of the newspaper to reprint the contentious cartoons had sparked protests among Muslim journalists while the Urdu Patrakar Sangh had condemned the newspaper and demanded Dalvi's arrest.

Following the outrage, Dalvi had admitted to the "mistake" and tendered an unconditional apology through the columns of her newspaper, but it was not accepted by the Muslim media.