Urdu Journalist Who Ran Charlie Hebdo Cover Still Paying Price Of Freedom Of Speech

Admin 17-Jul-2015 11:29:00 Inothernews

Urdu Journalist Who Ran Charlie Hebdo Cover Still Paying Price Of Freedom Of Speech


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



The outrage

But all her achievements and a well-earned reputation came crashing down as collateral damage to the dreaded attack. Following the incident, Charlie Hebdo naturally gained a lot more recognition globally than it already enjoyed. The attack on the freedom of expression prompted people everywhere to get a copy, with sales shooting up to seven million.

An attempt to silence a voice had in fact given it a wider outreach. This was exactly the story that Dalvi decided to publish in Awadhnama's next issue. While the story was clearly meant to advise Muslims to tackle offensive content with wisdom and composure, an image on the cover of the issue, taken from an old issue of Charlie Hebdo, is what engineered the disaster that struck Dalvi's life.

Source: MEMRI

The

A mistake with dire consequences

The image which had a caricature representing Prophet Mohammed, was enough to spark outrage across one of Mumbai's Muslim communities and the entire Urdu press. But Dalvi had no idea that it represented the Prophet and had selected the image randomly from the internet.

The image showed a tearful figure covering his face in lamentation with the headline in French saying "It's hard to be loved by idiots", followed by the statement, "Mahomet overwhelmed by fundamentalists".

Sarfaraz Arzoo of Hindustan supported her, saying that it was a mistake anyone could have made, as while selecting a cover image only the picture is selected from the internet while no one bothers to check the headline. But the Urdu press and the community which formed the readership was unrelenting. Arzoo said that they were using the prophet for profit.

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