On a fateful day in January 2015, gunmen, linked to the religious extremist group ISIS, barged into the office of Charlie Hebdo and gunned down 12 people, leaving the world in a state of shock. This event blew the lid off a heated debate about freedom of speech and expression. While many debated that freedom of speech needed to be protected, some speculated as to whether a line should be drawn. But, in the social media frenzy and newsroom discussions, there were few unnoticed figures who got caught in the crossfire. Shireen Dalvi, an Urdu journalist and former editor-in-chief at an Urdu publication, Awadhnama, had rapidly made her way to the top in a span of just six years. She did all this after the untimely death of her husband with two children to take care of. But the past six months of her life, following the attack, have been a constant struggle for survival. Source: Scroll

A sad state of affairs

The real outrage in this particular case seems to be the fact that while we register protests on social media and discuss the attack on foreign soil in national media, little is done to safeguard these civil rights in our own country. The fact that something could happen to a journalist in a city like Mumbai, let alone someone being burned alive in UP, leaves no doubt that freedom of speech and expression in this country have a long way to go.

Her real mistake

On Dalvi's part, she did accept that she made a mistake, but the bigger mistake was one which perhaps even she did not realise. The mistake of believing that the society and community in India is a matured one and open to new ideas, in comparison to those that were easily provoked. She made the mistake of believing in the liberal values of one of the oldest regional press conglomerates in this country, which boldly faced British repression during the freedom struggle.

The mistake of trying to take a sensible stand on the issue, when mob justice and intimidation is what governs a land where mass outrage is put above fundamental rights. She made the mistake of thinking that, as a woman, she can rise to the top in this country, where people still don't like taking orders from a woman, and no one would get offended. But, the unforgiving and ruthless way in which everyone charged at her made sure that she got the message.

Source: NDTV