Cartoons can be a security threat to fascist regimes

11 September, 2012

It is an irony that politicians with a clout can roam free in 'my India' and young men like cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who genuinely want to change the country for good with their creative art are put behind bars.

ASEEM TRIVEDI, a young budding cartoonist of 24 years of age and grandson of a famous freedom fighter has been put behind bars on a very serious charge of sedition, attracting imprisonment as punishment by the Maharashtra government under its able Home Minister RR Patil. This offence is non bailable. He has drawn four cartoons, which allegedly denigrate Indian politicians and national institutions.

One can understand threat to internal security from a terror group or a group of people engaged in anti national activity like passing of vital intelligence of the country to an enemy, but a lad making cartoons to depict how the current day politicians in power are looting the country being made an anti national that also in a democratic country like India, is unheard of. It smacks of power having got into the head of the politicians that be. It also depicts insecurity of the government in power. Even in dictatorship and fascism things of this sort don't happen.

As per various media reports, these cartoons are crude in nature and have desecrated the national emblem and the Parliament. Without doubt nobody has a right to play around with national emblem and show the Parliament in bad light. But with 800 million youth below 35 years of age, India today is the youngest country in the World. The youth by nature are volatile; they are in a hurry; they have aspirations for their future. When they see both houses of their Parliament blocked from functioning in the current monsoon session by the Netas who are of Pitaji Tauji age, more than 80 important bills stuck due to this political logjam, scams worth lakhs of crores tumbling out daily from their elected netas' cupboards, every political party doubling and even tripling their party coffers with more than 70 percent of source of their income being Benami while the aam admi on the road struggles to make two ends meet due to uncontrolled spiraling prices, surely they have a reason to be annoyed. It is this anger which has come out in Mr. Trivedi's cartoons.

Surely this episode could have been dealt in a more humane manner, keeping the young age of Mr. Trivedi in mind. If making these crude cartoons of national institutions is such a heinous offence to attract non-bailable warrant and punishment up to several years of imprisonment, then why same yardstick should be not applied to the two Karnataka MLAs who were actually watching pornography while attending assembly session? Or for that matter Note for Vote and Cash for questions episodes in which Parliamentarians were caught red handed in Parliament itself? Why aren't the perpetrators of mindless violence in Assam which led to death of 96 people and rendering more than 4 lac people homeless, behind bars?

Similarly Raj Thackeray keeps on issuing threats to Biharis and people from UP even to the extent of beating them, why no action against him? Why a young cartoonist is such a threat to the state that he must be put behind bars while others with clout can roam free? Which India are we living in? Are we really protecting and safeguarding our constitution? Or is this also a sham? The old and deadwood must give way to young people; we must have capable leaders and honest politicians.