COLONIAL MIND - SET OF ELECTED LEADERS

"Don't spare me" asked Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru while inaugurating the Shankar's Weekly. The year was 1948, and the leader was one of the architects of the Indian democratic system.Nehru was an admirer of Shankar's cartoons. But in 2012, a leader who promised" Paribortan" ( total change) and became Chief Minister of West Bengal got a cartoonist arrested. Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and his neighbour were declared enemies of the State for circulating an e-mail cartoon lampooning the Chief Minister, and were imprisoned. Though the West Bengal Human Rights Commission criticized the police excesses, and ordered the state government to pay the victims rupees 50,000 as compensation, the government has not responded positively. Instead, the state government appears to be vindictive and is proceeding with the case.  The US - based Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) urged the President and Prime Minister to take steps to amend the laws to protect the freedom of speech of citizens.

Sedition is a convenient charge our intolerant leaders use to silence the critics. Social activist and medical practitioner Dr.Binayak Sen was in detention for a long time till the Supreme Court granted him bail. Writer – social activist Arundhathi Roy was threatened with a similar charge. The British rulers used the sedition law to crush the freedom fighters. This harsh legal option is no more in existence in the Statute books of UK. But the Indian rulers have no hesitation to abuse the sedition clause section 124(A) of the Indian Penal Code to curb the freedom of expression of citizens.

The latest victim is Kanpur – based 24 – year old cartoonist Aseem Trivedi. Exasperated with the mounting corruption in the country and the indifference of the government towards the corrupt, he let out his frustrations through his “cartoons against corruption” in his website. He was arrested and his website was blocked by the Maharashtra government. Young Trivedi did not buckle under pressure and the visuals of Trivedi on the TV screen would make any Indian proud of the mental strength of this uncompromising young fighter.The public anger against the Maharashtra government rattled the political establishment. The Mumbai High Court criticized the police, the lower court and the state government for the “arbitrary” and “frivolous” action in arresting Trivedi. The chairman of the Press Council of India in a furious interview asserted that those who issued the orders should be arrested. The High Court released Trivedi on bail with a minimum amount of personal surety. The state government dropped all charges against the young hero.

During the National Emergency declared in 1975, the government of India censored each and every printed word. Yet the stinging cartoon of Abu Abraham on the declaration of emergency was not censored by Mrs.Indira Gandhi. It showed the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signing the emergency orders from his bath tub and saying that “If there are anymore ordinances just ask them to wait”.

Sarojini Naidu’s sense of humour was well-known. She “once in a mood of loving irreverence” called Mahatma Gandhi “ Micky Mouse of a man”, which Gandhiji enjoyed .Later , the Civil and Military Gazette from Lahore published a caricature of Gandhiji as Micky Mouse. Such a cartoon today might cause violent riots and severe police action. Section 124(A) of IPC should be erased from our statute books to protect the liberty of freedom of speech and expression from our rulers, who are idols of clay.