Cartoonist released from jail

Mumbai: Controversial cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, 25, has vowed to continue his fight for the removal of the sedition law in the Indian Constitution after he was released from Arthur Road jail on Wednesday.

The Bombay High Court ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs5,000 (Dh332.5) on Tuesday after an advocate Sanskar Marathe filed a public interest litigation claiming that Trivedi’s arrest and the sedition charges against him were illegal and “bad in law.” For a government that did not expect the huge outcry from the public after the Kanpur-based cartoonist was arrested by the Bandra police station last week, Home Minister R R Patil said police would see if there had been an insult to the national emblem and then consider whether the sedition charges could be withdrawn.

As Trivedi stepped out of jail on Wednesday, he was welcomed with a garland by Indian Against Corruption (IAC) activist Mayank Gandhi in the midst of patriotic slogans. He went to a nearby Buddhist shrine and offered his respects to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution. The crowds as well as the media personnel outside the central prison created chaos and commandos, posted at the court for trial of the convicted terrorist Ajmal Kasab, came to the aid of the police.

Later, while addressing a press conference at the crowded Press Club, Trivedi said: “I don’t think I did anything wrong. I did what I did for the dignity of the Constitution and Parliament. Moreover, there was no question of insulting the Dalits.”

Some of his contentious cartoons against corruption are that of a redrawn national emblem of the lions on top of King Asoka’s pillar with the motto “Satyameva Jayate” (truth alone shall triumph) which has been shown as bloodthirsty wolves, underscored with the motto “Bhrashtamev Jayate” (long live corruption). Another depicts “Mother India” wearing a tri-colour sari about to be raped by a character labelled “corruption.” The title of the cartoon is Gang Rape of Mother India. What has irked some people is the depiction of the Indian Parliament building as a toilet. A line below the sketch states, “The toilet paper used here is also called Ballot paper.”

Trivedi has defended his cartoons saying that there are insults galore to the country’s institutions by those who occupy Parliament. “Money is taken by some MPs to ask questions in Parliament, there are those who are involved in various scams and violate all laws. Is this an insult to Parliament by me or them?” The cartoonist was replying to a question on the recent Supreme Court’s observation that the media should know its limits so that they don’t cross the line of contempt.

He continued: “We will continue our fight against corruption. We want the section 124 A of sedition to be removed from the Indian Penal Code. This is the section under which Pandit Nehru, Lokmanya Tilak and Gandhiji were booked. It should be scrapped now.” He added that it was a law used by the British to crush the national movement.