IN ITS first reaction to the raging controversy, the Government of India today expressed deep concern over the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in a Danish daily.
They said a protest has been conveyed to the Danish Government in October itself when the cartoons were first published. The Government had suggested to the Danish administration that they should ask for apologies and assurance from the newspaper concerned
that such cartoons will never be published in future, an official release said here. “At the time these offending cartoons were first published, Indian outrage at this had been conveyed to the Danish Government both in New Delhi and in Copenhagen, in October, 2005 itself,” the release said.
“It is incumbent on all of us to be sensitive to the beliefs and sentiments of others and avoid all actions that cause hurt to them. India’s commitment to religious harmony and tolerance is unshakeable and actions that cause hurt to the sentiments of any section of our people are not acceptable,” the release added.