The arrest and subsequent police remand of political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has left the legal fraternity appalled.
The arrest and subsequent police remand of political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has left the legal fraternity appalled.
Trivedi, 25, from Kanpur was arrested after he surrendered at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police station on Saturday. He is accused of posting seditious content on his website.
“I am doing service to the nation by telling the truth on the current state of affairs,” he said. “If that makes me a traitor, then even Gandhi and Bhagat Singh were traitors as they supported the truth. I will continue to reveal the true picture in my own way and get arrested.”
On Sunday, the small causes court in Bandra sent him to police custody till September 16.
Rajendra Pratap Pandey, a local Congress leader,Hanumant Upare, a Dalit leader, and Amit Katarnaeva, a Republican Party of India member, filed four police complaints against Trivedi — two each in Mumbai and Beed — last year. Their contention: Trivedi’s cartoons hurt national sentiments.
One such cartoon has replaced the three lions on the national
emblem, Ashoka Stambh, with wolves.
Katarnaeva has accused Trivedi of putting up banners mocking the Constitution at Anna Hazare’s rally in BKC last year and posting obscene content on his website.
But lawyers spoke against the sedition charge. “The purpose of a cartoon is to depict current affairs in a lighter vein that strikes a chord with the common man,” Adhik Shirodkar, a Mumbai-based advocate, said. “The bold cartoons depict the well-known reality of a corrupt nation. The intent behind Trivedi’s work was not to provoke violence but to evoke a debate on the dismal state of national affairs.”
Criminal lawyer Majid Memon said, “On the one hand we boast of liberty granted to citizens to express their thoughts and on the other we make exceptions for realistic humour and charge cartoonists with sedition.”
Memon termed the incident “politically motivated move” and said it was “blown out of proportion”. “Trivedi should at least have been given the option of securing anticipatory bail,” he said. The arrest and subsequent police remand of political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has left the legal fraternity appalled.
Trivedi, 25, from Kanpur was arrested after he surrendered at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police station on Saturday. He is accused of posting seditious content on his website.
“I am doing service to the nation by telling the truth on the current state of affairs in India,” he said. “If that makes me a traitor, then even Gandhi and Bhagat Singh were traitors as they supported the truth. I will continue to reveal the true picture in my own way and get arrested.”
On Sunday, the small causes court in Bandra sent him to police custody till September 16.
Rajendra Pratap Pandey, a local Congress leader,Hanumant Upare, a Dalit leader, and Amit Katarnaeva, a Republican Party of India member, filed four police complaints against Trivedi — two each in Mumbai and Beed — last year. Their contention: Trivedi’s cartoons hurt national sentiments.
One such cartoon has replaced the three lions on the national emblem, Ashoka Stambh, with wolves. Katarnaeva has accused Trivedi of putting up banners mocking the Constitution at Anna Hazare’s rally in BKC last year and posting obscene content on his website.
But lawyers spoke against the sedition charge. “The purpose of a cartoon is to depict current affairs in a lighter vein that strikes a chord with the common man,” Adhik Shirodkar, a Mumbai-based advocate, said. “The bold cartoons depict the well-known reality of a corrupt nation. The intent behind Trivedi’s work was not to provoke violence but to evoke a debate on the dismal state of national affairs.”
Criminal lawyer Majid Memon said, “On the one hand we boast of liberty granted to citizens to express their thoughts and on the other we make exceptions for realistic humour and charge cartoonists with sedition.”
Memon termed the incident “politically motivated move” and said it was “blown out of proportion”. “Trivedi should at least have been given the option of securing anticipatory bail,” he said.
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