Patna: Muslims Monday burnt copies of the Times of India here to protest the publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in the local edition of the newspaper.
Hundreds of Muslims, most of them youths, shouted slogans and demanded dismissal of the editor-in-chief of the Times of India for publishing the cartoons of the prophet that were originally carried by a Danish newspaper.
Raj Kumar, resident editor of the Patna edition of the Times of India, said: "We tendered an unqualified apology on Sunday to a delegation of prominent Muslims and also published an apology on the front page of the newspaper.
"Our intention was not to hurt the Muslims, but to show how blasphemous cartoons were being published abroad. But we have realised this was a mistake on our part, and we are sorry for it," Raj Kumar told IANS.
Some protestors threatened to block the sale of the newspaper across Bihar. "We will not allow the sale of newspapers like the Times of India unless they publicly apologise to Muslims," said Anwar Karim, a student participating in the protests.
Rahmat Ansari, a government employee, said the publishing of the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad was tantamount to playing with the sentiments of millions of Muslims.
The protesters said the cartoons were first published three days ago, leading to angry reactions from Muslims.
"Members of the community took out a protest march and submitted a memorandum to the editor in charge of the local edition," said businessman Salamat Khan.
The cartoons were originally published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten last September. Islam forbids the depiction of the prophet in pictures or drawings.
There have been protests against the cartoons in several Muslim countries. Some Muslim nations have recalled their envoys from Copenhagen and the Scandinavian capitals.
Newspapers in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Hungary reprinted the caricatures, saying that press freedom was more important than protests and provoking boycotts.
