Complainants against Avadhnama demand India have a blasphemy law

The complainants who filed a case against the Urdu daily Avadhnama demanded that the Indian government introduce a blasphemy law. They made the demand in a press conference held at the Mumbai Press Club.

The complainants spoke to the media after news stories appeared, stating that Shirin Dalvi, the former editor of the paper, was being hounded and targeted. The news stories also said that she had to go under the veil to protect herself from threats.

"In fact it is the employees of the organisation who are victims, have lost their livelihood as the paper shut down. The real issue is about the blasphemous cartoon but it is being made out to be Shirin Dalvi," said Saeed Hameed, resident editor of Shahfat, an Urdu newspaper.

The conference, however, did not feature any employee who is stated to have warned Dalvi for not republishing the Charlie Hebdo caricature of prophet Mohammed.

"We have been noticing her work for a while. The apology and the editorial that was put up was by the management and not her," said Farid Khan, convener of Forum Against Blasphemy, one of the complainants against Dalvi.

When asked why not forgive her, since she had apologised, and that forgiving was the most sacred essence of any religion, complainants seemed keen to drag Dalvi to court. "Now that it is in court domain, let her state the apology there. We will give our say there. We will also demand for a blasphemy law," said Zubair Azmi, another complainant.