Mumbai: Shirin Dalvi, editor of an Urdu newspaper, is living like a fugitive since her name was mired in controversies related to reprinting of controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammed that was originally carried by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last month.
Dalvi, editor of the Mumbai edition of Urdu daily Avadhnama, is facing ire from a specific community for carrying controversial cartoons in the daily.
Yesterday, a group of ex-employees of the organisation claimed that the paper's management had conspired against Dalvi by publishing such cartoons.
Dalvi, however, refuted allegations saying there was no conspiracy on the part of management and that she carried it with Pope's comment condemning misuse of freedom of expression.
“Neither the management was consulted on the matter, nor I was asked to do it... I carried it along with Pope's statement condemning misuse of freedom of expression to hurt religious sentiments," Dalvi said.
"The very next day, I realized my mistake and apologized unconditionally. I also penned an editorial saying it has not been done intentionally," Dalvi added.
Dalvi's house, located in Mumbra, is locked and two her children, son and daughter, are staying with relatives. Presently, the editor is living at her friend's place in the city.
In one of the pages of its January 17 issue, Dalvi had carried the image of the Charlie Hebdo cover issue.
The daily was closed on January 19 and 25 of its staffers were sacked.
On Wednesday, Dalvi moved to the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of all cases against her.
Yesterday, a sessions court granted interim relief to her from arrest until February 20. She was earlier arrested and released on bail in one of the cases filed against her.
On January 7, masked gunmen had forced their way into the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, killing 12 people and injuring many.
