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Forced into hiding, Urdu daily's editor still unable to return home

MUMBAI: Newspaper vendors in Mumbai may soon have to do the impossible: they may have to read and check every page of every paper or magazine they distribute, just in case it contains material that flouts the law or "injures" sentiments.If this sounds odd, considering that vendors aren't editors or publishers who make decisions on what to include or leave out of a publication, look at what the JJ Marg police did. Late Wednesday night, they arrested two vendors for selling copies of the Urdu daily Avadhnama that reproduced the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed published in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo .A Sewri court on Thursday released the vendors-Shareef Shaikh, 60, and Salman Shaikh, 18- on bail. Police had asked that they be remanded in custody but their plea was rejected by the court.Both vendors are from the Bhendi Bazaar area and have been charged under Sections 295 (A) (acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.Riyaz Chaali, trustee of a local mosque, had filed a case against the vendors on January 29 alleging they had sold copies of the daily. "The cartoons have hurt our religious sentiments," he said in his police complaint.A police officer from JJ Marg police station said, "Chaali wanted a fresh case registered against the paper's editor, Shirin Dalvi. But a fresh case against her cannot be registered in the city as she is already facing two FIRs. Chaali then asked police to file an FIR against two unidentified vendors."Police sources said Chaali initially did not name anyone but later said he had purchased the paper's copies from Shareef and Salman.Police sources said they were not inclined to register a case against the vendors but had done so as the matter involved religious sentiments. "Had we not registered a case, Chaali could have brought a mob to the police station and agitated," sources said.Krishna Prakash, additional commissioner of police, south region, said, "The complainant insisted that the vendors had been selling the paper despite knowing the matter was defamatory to Islam. He also claimed they had asked several vendors not to sell the paper, and while others had stopped, these two vendors continued to sell it."Shareef said Chaali had never asked them not to sell the paper. The 60-year-old works at his cousin's shop and has no fixed salary; his expenses are taken care of by the cousins. He cannot even read and write."I can't read the names of papers but identify them by their design. Every day, over 500 people buy papers or books from our stall. I don't even look at them and just hand over the paper they want. I don't remember Chaali coming to our stall," Shareef told TOI.Salman is a Class VIII dropout who works at his father's bookstall."I don't know what to say. We have been selling newspapers for over 30 years but nothing like this has ever happened," he said.Former IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh called the arrests illegal. "The Supreme Court guidelines on arrests have been violated. A vendor can never be held responsible for a newspaper's contents. Besides, in such cases whether the content of a publication is offensive or not has to be determined by the government, which then issues a notification under Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure banning such content. These arbitrary and high-handed actions have no place in a liberal democracy," he said.Advocate Waris Pathan said the vendors should be discharged from the case at the earliest. "Tomorrow the police will say readers are also responsible," he said.