By IANS,
London : The British author of an article that led to Muslim protests in Kolkata and the arrest of the editor and the publisher of The Statesman, one of the country’s oldest English dailies, has said the Indian democracy should “keep alive” the right to criticise religions.
“I wrote in defence of the right to criticise religion – all religions – and it is vitally important to keep that right alive in the world’s largest, and in many ways most admirable, democracy,” Johann Hari, a veteran journalist and author said.
His comments came after editor Ravindra Kumar and printer-cum-publisher Anand Sinha were taken into custody from their Kolkata residence Wednesday morning after a protester, Mohammed Shahid, lodged a complaint at the Bowbazar police station.
“They were arrested for hurting the religious belief of a community. They were later granted interim bail,” city police commissioner Goutam Mohan Chakraborty told IANS. Some Muslims groups held demonstrations outside the office of the liberal newspaper, founded in 1875, after it published Hari’s article Feb 5.
Titled “Why should I respect these oppressive religions?” it was reprinted from The Independent, a liberal British daily.
After the protests, Kumar issued statements on two occasions standing by his decision to publish the article, but said he had not meant to cause offence to any religion.
A note published Feb 8 said The Statesman had reprinted Hari’s article because “it mourned the marginalisation of the middle, liberal path in modern society”.
“The Statesman has always upheld secular values and has a record of providing space to all viewpoints, even contentious ones. If we were unable to fulfil this role, we would rather cease publication with honour than compromise our basic values,” Kumar said.
“The publication of Johann Hari’s opinion was not intended to cause hurt, or defame any community or religion. Nor was it intended to provoke societal tension. If unwittingly we have aggrieved any section of society, we deeply regret it.”
Kumar told The Independent he voluntarily attended the police station to try to calm tensions.
“Upon learning that a case had been registered by Kolkata police, I contacted officers and offered to assist the investigation and to aid efforts to defuse tensions,” he said. “Following this, the arrests were made early today and we were released on bail late in the night.”
He told the BBC: “I admit it was an editorial misjudgement but it was never intentional.”