Indian Cartoonist Charged By Mumbai Police; Hearing Today

It's always difficult for me to tell when there are actual developments in a slowly spiraling case like we're seeing in Indian right now with government officials and police officers making claims against the work of various cartoonists, but this looks like a real, unfortunate step forward. The young cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has apparently been booked on recent charges made against him regarding work that appears on his web site. He will face a hearing today. If I'm reading the article correctly and understanding its context, charges had been formed but not acted upon before now. Perhaps there will be some particulars of this case that emerge that could potentially change my initial, cursory view of it, but pursuing actions against a cartoonist engaged in some sort of truth-telling and opinion-making through their art on the basis that this has some sort of treasonous element merely by being criticism, that seems to me a hugely alarming thing for any democracy of any kind. The fact that it's the same police department that seems to be facilitating these recent moves seems very much worth noting as well.
 
posted 8:00 am PST | Permalink
 

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