The Editor of a major newspaper has sought an "unconditional apology" before Islamic clerics for an llegedly "blasphemous" cartoon published in a satire supplement of the daily. Prothom Alo Editor Motiur Rahman apologised and promised "not to repeat such mistakes" in future as fellow editors and law advisor of the interim cabinet Mainul Hosein held a meeting with Islamic leaders, including the chief cleric of Baitul Mokarram national mosque, Obaidul Haque.
Haque urged Islamic groups and Muslims across the country "to be compassionate despite the gravity of the offence" in line with Islamic teachings since the newspaper "repeatedly sought apology". Officials said law enforcement agencies were taking extra caution to prevent a possible outbreak of violence while editors of 13 major dailies called for patience in view of the paper's apology.
"We also urge the religious leaders to forget and forgive the matter and expect the Prothom Alo to be cautious in future so such mistakes are not repeated," they said in a joint statement.
The development came hours after the interim government in emergency-ruled Bangladesh authorised police to file a regular case against the detained cartoonist of the Prothom Alo for drawing the objectionable cartoon.
A private madrassa official in southeastern port city of Chittagong and a lawyer in eastern Comilla have already filed two cases against the editor, publisher and cartoonist — for hurting religious feelings and defamation.
In the September 17 issue of the Alpin magazine, a supplement of Prothom Alo, the cartoonist drew a caricature titled "Naam", which sparked protests from Muslim groups, who said it ridiculed prophet Mohammed and his close aides. The government ordered confiscation of the supplement while the cartoonist, Arifur Rahman, has been sent to jail for a month. Angry protestors torched copies of the Alo while several extreme right-wing groups staged street protests.
The protests came as Bangladesh's military-backed emergency government is reported to have seized copies of another magazine that has allegedly insulted Islam.
"The government has banned the Eid issue of the Bengali language weekly magazine Shaptahik 2000 for publishing an autobiographical article where the writer desecrated the holy shrine Mecca," Shahenur Mia, senior information officer at the home affairs ministry, told the AFP news agency.
Bangladesh is one of the world's largest Muslim countries. It has been under emergency rule since January 11, when elections were cancelled after vote-rigging allegations led to an army-backed seizure of power.
