Debate, outrage over cartoonist's 'offensive' sketches

Aseem Trivedi has depicted Parliament as 'national toilet' and the "gang rape of Mother India". On Monday, he was sent to judicial custody till September 24 that his cartoons of national symbols were "offensive" and he has been charged with sedition. Are Trivedi's cartoons controversial or offensive? Poll result | Aseem Trivedi sent to judicial custody

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi's use of national symbols to lampoon corruption may not have tickled the authorities but by arresting him they became the target of ridicule and anger: online and offline.

A court in Mumbai on Monday ordered the freelance journalist to be sent to judicial custody until September 24. He was first given to the police on Sunday after an arrest warrant was issued against him based on a political activist's complaint that his cartoons were "insulting" to the country. Trivedi also faces the very serious charge of sedition, and violation of IT security laws.

Trivedi, 25, was one of two winners of the 2012 "Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award" by the US-based Cartoonists Rights Network International. His cartoons lampooning corruption among politicians were displayed at a Mumbai protest in December by anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.

One of Trivedi's cartoons showed the four lions that form Ashoka Chakra, India's national symbol, replaced by four wolves and the national slogan "truth shall prevail" replaced by "corruption shall prevail." Another cartoon showed Parliament as the "national toilet". He sketched a woman as "Mother India" being assaulted by a politician and a bureaucrat. A caption above this cartoon reads "gang rape of Mother India".

Are Trivedi's cartoons offensive? No, said 87.99% of respondents in an ONLINE POLL conducted on this website. A meagre 9.18 % respondents felt the cartoons are indeed offensive and 2.8% voters chose 'can't say' option. People on Twitter and free speech advocates protested Trivedi's arrest, alleging it proved politicians' growing intolerance for criticism.

A campaign on Twitter urged people to retweet Trivedi's cartoons or links to them and "offend" the government. The debate on Trivedi's cartoons was intense enough to make his name the top trending Twitter topic for the second day running.



"Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi sent to till Sept 24. Has the government gone insane?" said Bhaskar Agarwal, who tweets as @bobbyfaith.



"And so the fight continues. Aseem Trivedi sent to judicial custody (jail) until September 24," tweeted senior journalist Sachin Kalbag.



Satirist Jaspal Bhatti made it clear that Trivedi's cartoons hadn't offended him. "The greatest disrespect to national symbols is when we use India's currency notes for corruption," he tweeted.



"Aseem Trivedi's cartoons try to shock you and wake you from the self-induced state: pretending to sleep and look innocent. Isn't it?" tweeted niket_kumar.



"We are very unhappy about the arrest as he has not committed any crime, he has just exercised his freedom of expression through his cartoons," V.G. Narendra, head of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, told AFP. "Cartoonists should be given a free hand. We must have the ability to laugh at ourselves."

Kanpur-based cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who was arrested on charges of posting seditious contents on his website is seen outside a Mumbai court. PTI