A political cartoonist whose drawings mock Indian government corruption has been jailed on a sedition charge in an arrest that was widely condemned on Monday as evidence of political leaders’ increasing insensitivity to criticism.
On Sunday, a magistrate in Mumbai ordered Aseem Trivedi held for a week for questioning after police issued an arrest warrant based on a political activist’s complaint his cartoons were “insulting” to the country.
Students, opposition politicians and free speech advocates protested that Trivedi’s arrest – on the very serious charged of sedition no less – showed politicians’ growing intolerance for criticism. Taken aback by the vehement protests, state Home Minister RR Patel said the government would review his case.
“Politicians must learn to be tolerant. This is not a dictatorship,” said Markandey Katju, a former Supreme Court justice who now heads the Press Council of India.
Trivedi, a freelance cartoonist, was one of two winners of this year’s “Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award” by the US-based Cartoonists Rights Network International. His cartoons lampooning widespread corruption among Indian politicians were displayed at a Mumbai protest in December by the anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.
The activist’s complaint to police cited one of those drawings that showed the four lions that form India’s national symbol replaced by four wolves and the national slogan “truth shall prevail” replaced by “corruption shall prevail.”
