Photo: Getty Images
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani has come out in support of Aseem Trivedi, saying the act of jailing the cartoonist for an allegedly seditious work had made him wonder if the current political set up was "worse even than the emergency?"
Advani, in a blog post Wednesday, said he has "always regarded the emergency period 1975-77 as the worst in so far as suppression of civil liberties and freedom of expression were concerned".
"But seeing what has happened to political cartoonist and anti-corruption crusader Aseem Trivedi, I have started wondering: Is today's political set up worse even than the emergency?"
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Trivedi but he refused to be freed till the sedition charge against him were dropped.
Trivedi was arrested last Saturday by Mumbai police which charged him, among other things, with sedition for insulting national emblems and the constitution during the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare here December 2011.
India Against Corruption (IAC) member Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday threatened to sit on a protest outside the prison where cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has been jailed if all charges against him are not dropped.
Advani said the "draconian mindset of the present rulers is born out of failure and desperation".
"…Dictatorships cannot afford laughter because people may laugh at the dictator, and that would not do. In all the years of Hitler, there never was a good comedy, not a good cartoon, not a parody, not a spoof." he said.
Tag : #L K Advani #Aseem Trivedi
from
IANS
India, China held specific discussions: Khurshid
India and China held very "specific" discussions without "shying away from anything", External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said here Tuesday.
from PTI
Li terms his India visit as successful
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has termed his India visit as "successful", saying he "felt at home" during talks with his counterpart Manmohan Singh.
from PTI
Sudipta Sen's associate sent to judicial custody
Saradha Group director and close associate of Sudipta Sen, Debjani Mukherjee was on Monday remanded in judicial custody till May 31 by the Bidhanagar court.
from
PTI
Shinde visits national counter-terrorism center
Sushil Kumar Shinde has visited America's top counter-terrorism center, to have the first-hand experience of its functioning.
from
IANS
A day before CAG Vinod Rai demits office, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari Monday accused him of "fiction writing" on some figures of alleged corruption, saying that the country's top auditor had done the greatest disservice to the nation by tossing "mystical numbers".
from
IBNLive
Modi to attend BJP's Parliamentary meeting
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was inducted into the BJP's Parliamentary board in March this year, will attend his first board meeting on Tuesday.
from
IANS
Governments failing to protect minorities: US
US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed concern at global problems of discrimination and violence against religious groups, including Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs besides increasing use of blasphemy and apostasy laws.
