The press and blasphemy in India

India has also witnessed protests in different parts of the country
including Delhi and Mumbai. Four persons were killed in Luknow, the
capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Political parties have expressed
solidarity with the minority Muslim community. The state elections for
various legislative assemblies in April-March 2006 compelled political
parties to organize demonstrations against western media accusing it of
anti-Islamic propaganda. Minority vote bank politics touched a low when
a minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh Haji Yaqoob Qureshi announced
a reward of Rs. 51 crore for beheading the Danish cartoonist who drew
the offensive caricatures of the Prophet.
 
The Government of India expressed deep concern over the controversy
and suggested to the Danish government that it seek an assurance from
the newspaper that it would not publish such cartoons in future.
Anticipating a communal clash, the Prime Minister of India came out
with a statement, saying (Mujataba S.Ali, 2006 Sept.29).
 
It is incumbent on all of us to be sensitive to the beliefs and
sentiments of other and avoid all actions that cause hurt to them
[Muslim Community]. India’s commitment to religious harmony and
tolerance is unshakable and actions that cause hurt to the sentiments
of any part of our people are not acceptable.
 
Moreover, the Indian Government diplomatically dissuaded the Danish
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen from visiting India around the end
of March 2006, saying the controversy surrounding the cartoons of the
Prophet would overshadow the visit. Rasmussen’s visit was planned by
both countries well before the controversy over the cartoon erupted.
 
STAND OF THE INDIAN MEDIA
 

Accepting the Government’s call for restraint and upholding the
principle of self-censorship, no publication except a Hindi Magazine,
Shabdarth, reproduced the cartoons. Taking note of the impending
danger, the editor of Shabdarth, Alok Kumar, was arrested. He had to
pay Rs.50000 and provide a personal surety before he was released on
bail after ten days. Unlike the European media, most of the newspapers
criticized the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten for publishing the
controversial cartoons. The national newspaper in English, The Hindu,
described the development as a ‘needless and nasty controversy’. In its
editorial on 9th February 2006, The Hindu says,
 
At a time when Muslims across the world feel deeply offended by
prejudiced stereotypes of Islam post-9/11, the cartoons have just been
insensitive, they have been downright provocative. … the cartoons
promote hate by suggesting that Islam preaches violence and terrorism.
While Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that originally published the
cartoons, responded with a quick apology, the other European
newspapers, notably in France, decided to republish the cartoons on the
ground that they were defending freedom of expression. Freedom of
expression is supremely important. But surely it does not require its
champions crassly to cause offence to the faith and beliefs of an
identifiable group.
  
The Hindu also criticized the Muslim community for its violent
reactions to the publication of the cartoons. In the same editorial
(2006 Feb.9) it says,