Urdu daily editor held for printing Charlie Hebdo cover, gets bail

Shirin Dalvi, the editor of Urdu daily Avadhnama, was later released on bail by a local court.

The editor of an Urdu newspaper was arrested by the Thane Police on Wednesday for printing a controversial cover of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo earlier this month.

Shirin Dalvi, the editor of Urdu daily Avadhnama, was later released on bail by a local court.

“The section in the FIR registered against her is bailable, hence the court granted her bail,” said S M Mundhe, senior inspector, Mumbra police station.

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In one of the pages of its January 17 edition, Avadhnama had carried the image of the Charlie Hebdo cover issue produced after the terrorist attack that killed the magazine’s editors. The cover had resulted in violent protests across several Islamic nations.

After Avadhanama, which has editions in seven cities, printed the image, several readers approached the police in parts of Mumbai and Thane. Dalvi was booked for outraging religious feelings by insulting a religion with malicious intent under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code.

Immediately after the January 17 issue came out, the Urdu Patrakar Sangh demanded the arrest of the newspaper’s editor and publisher. Dalvi had then said she had made a mistake and that she had no intention of hurting religious sentiments.

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