By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Kolkata: A day after publishing a provocative image of a nude girl standing with a frame of Hindu deity Durga with Sachin Tendulkar’s face and a Pakistani cricketer doing a ‘sajda’ before the deity, English daily The Telegraph on Tuesday published an apology on the front page of its Kolkata edition.
The daily had taken the image from the twitter account of one Poonam Pandey and published it on Monday in its entertainment supplementary. India had defeated Pakistan on Sunday in an Asia Cup cricket match.
Tension spread soon after the publication of the image on Monday and the daily sensed the anger and did not delay in offering apology. On the front page on Tuesday, the Kolkata-based daily published an apology.
The Telegraph today published the apology and admitted the photo was reproduced from the twitter account because of a technical error and the daily had no intention to hurt the sentiments of any community.
“A tweet by @iPoonampandey was reproduced in t2 on March 19 because of a technical error. The Telegraph had no intention to hurt the sentiments of any community. We apologise for publishing the tweet,” reads the daily’s apology.
Meanwhile, tension spread in Kolkata and other areas. A violent incident was reported from Howrah. The latest news is that the main road of Park Circus area has been blocked by people in protest against the image.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed to people to remain calm and maintain peace.