The woman behind the controversial "Free Kashmir" placard displayed at the protest rally at the Gateway of India here on Tuesday said she was just demanding lifting of restrictions in the new Union Territory and claimed her act has been "blown out of proportion".
The placard with "Free Kashmir" message, held aloft by a woman at the Gateway of India on Monday during the protest against the violence inside the JNU campus on Sunday night, had caught the attention of many.
As it snowballed into a controversy and triggered a war of words between ruling and opposition leaders, the woman, Mehak Prabhus, issued an apology, while Maharashtra government ordered a probe into her "antecedents".
"If by being naive in understanding the impact it would have and in the process create this stir, I apologise. I am an artist who believes in basic human compassion. Let power of love overcome hate," she said.
A large number of students, common citizens and activists had taken part in the protest rally at the Gateway of India in south Mumbai.
In a video statement, Prabhus, a resident of Mumbai, said through the poster she was just highlighting the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which had been put under a slew of communication curbs post revocation of its special status by the Centre on August 5.
"In the last five months, the basic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been taken away. If we say they are 'ours', then we should treat them accordingly. They should get the basic rights that we are getting," she said.
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"They should have the freedom of expression, and with that thought, I had raised the poster," she said.
As soon as Prabhus's photo went viral on social media, BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis objected to her "Free Kashmir" message.
In a late Monday night tweet, Fadnavis asked, "How can we tolerate such separatist elements in Mumbai."