Cartoon row: Send Aseem back to school

Jail is not the place for cartoonist Aseem Trivedi. He should be sent back to school. His education appears to be incomplete. Someone must drill into his head that Constitution is not the same as corruption, and Parliament is not the same as politicians. He must be made to understand that the Indian Constitution is the source from which he derives his freedom to draw cartoons and that national symbols are sacred. There’s no point vandalising both to score a point.

“Ye azaadi ki doosri ladaai hai,” he shouted with great flourish, while being bundled off by the police. His naivete and pompousness were as comical as they were saddening. Saddening, because he is ignorant of the import of national symbols to our collective identity and our original freedom struggle, and he does not have the maturity to fathom why countries vest so much pride and respect in their national symbols. What is more worrying is that he represents a growing class of young Indians who think alike.

His action was comical because the halo of victimhood he put on immediately after the arrest. He sought to turn the police doing their duty into something like imperial oppressors of native Indians. Such sights have become too familiar these days to evoke genuine concern. This misplaced sense of heroism is one of the byproducts of the misdirected activism we see around ourselves these days. Obviously, he was enjoying his moment in the sun, or should we say television cameras?

The unanimous opinion among experts is that his cartoons were in poor taste and he had gone overboard with his imagination, if at all there was any. It is possible he was unaware of the significance of the Constitution or national symbols, and he was just trying to express his outrage against the corrupt at large, and like many others in the anti-corruption movement of Team Anna and thought of a wrong way to go about it. If he was being seditious, it was not a deliberate action.

He could be forgiven if he admits that he committed a mistake. He should learn that no freedom comes without responsibilities and individual liberty cannot come at the cost of the liberty of others. It would lead to chaos in the world. An apology would suffice in his case. There’s no heroism in being foolish. But Aseem does looks inclined to be adamant.

Let’s come to another question: was the complainant Amit Kararnaware, wrong in taking offence to the insult to the Indian Constitution and the national emblem? For some Indians nationalism could be as intense a feeling as religion. In a country where insulting religious symbols is a serious offence, why should an insult to national symbols be taken lightly? If Aseem deliberately hurt feelings why shouldn’t he face punishment?

When the audience stands up and stays attentive when the national anthem plays in theatres, it is as a mark of respect to what the song represents: the idea of India. Now, some creative soul could someday decide to throw his shoes at the screen when the anthem is in progress and claim he has the licence to express himself. By this action he is not only showing disrespect to the feelings of people around, but also denigrating what they believe is sacred to them. Isn’t a police action justified here?

Or should he be allowed to go scot free because he is part of a bigger organisation which has been fighting for public causes, like India Against Corruption in this case? The sense of fairness requires that he be chastised for his action. If the police are expected to make concessions here, the country has no moral authority to demand that they don’t make concessions in similar cases elsewhere. In Aseem’s case the police should be allowed to proceed under the law if he does not tender an apology.

The police’s move should serve as warning to those getting carried by street rhetoric and grand notions of their own importance. Of late, there has been a growing tendency among several sections of the population to attack and disrespect constitutional institutions, while their actual targets are the people running or manning the institutions.

The cocktail of ignorance and misunderstood freedom could be dangerous for the democracy. It has to stop. It would help if Aseem and his ilk are sent back to school.