Cartoons will only fear Cartoons

There were days when I used to unfold the newspaper and never used to find anything interesting to read. I used to see  “Cartoons” made by RK Laxman (especially Common Man) and that used to frame my mind , and  created a aura of  existing political atmosphere in India. Cartoonists were being considered as  noble professionals who not only caricatured and commented on various issues, but also mocked on government’s lackadaisical policies. Oh ! Those were the days…

Cartoonists, today when I hear this word, create fear and grief, not because of their open speech but the way they have been tormented by government, for supporting the justified. Pen is mightier than  sword and well one can now say Cartoon is mightier than Government. Cartoons are a expression of free Speech, a image of True Democracy and righteousness , Cartoon is  a  opera of burning  issues within a  society.  So what if Aseem Trivedi has been booked by the government , the reality is he is the victim of government controlled machinery run by autocratic political rulers.

Does the one who have arrested Aseem has respect for the Emblem ? No.  Do they have respect for “Satyamev Jayate” engraved on it ? No. So what prompts them to arrest a Cartoonist who has just used a medium to express his feelings. The point is a cartoon hits harder than 100 words. They do satire on the situation built and it does has its impact on its readers.  The last I heard of cartoon terror was death of Irfan Hussain http://cpj.org/killed/1999/irfan-hussain.php was a blot to free speech and democratic values and next  when Mamta Banerjee was severely criticized  for arresting a Jadavpur Professor. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mamata-defends-professors-arrest-over-cartoons/248472-37-64.html.

The Question now arises is whether we are going back to dark, gloomy days of Emergency, and we have not developed inspite of economic growth and literacy rates. Is India a democratic country just on paper where we say in our Constitution in Articles 19,20,21,22 about Freedom of Expression. Yes I agree Freedom has its limits and I don’t endorse the freedom which limits the barrier of decency and intelligence.

But with Aseem Trivedi, in Jail, I challenge his Freedom of Expression in his Cartoons were well within the limits of fundamental rights.

The Government of India if gets mocked later by United Nation Organisation or various International bodies, or another Washington Post or TIME magazine op-ed , I would say, Shut up Fools, you have done the damage