TN: Unilateralism of Modi Government Condemned
G Selva
ON February 10, a cartoon was published in Vikatan Plus, the online edition of the century-old Vikatan magazine. Following this, without any prior notice, the website gets mysteriously suspended.
As the technical team at the nearly century-old Vikatan Group worked to restore the website, someone within the group highlighted that a threat had been made by a senior BJP official, K Annamalai, the president of the Tamil Nadu state unit.
Taking to his X account, Annamalai admitted to submitting two separate representations: one to the chairperson of the Press Council of India and another to L Murgan, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting; and Parliamentary Affairs.
His rage had reportedly been stemmed from the above said cartoon featured in the online edition of Vikatan Plus. The cartoon portrayed Prime Minister Modi wearing a blue bandhgala suit, with his hands and legs chained, seated beside US President Donald Trump. Interestingly, many people apart from Vikatan’s usual clientele, including prominent journalist N Ram have subscribed to the website, following the cartoon’s publication.
US President Donald Trump's directive to deport undocumented migrants on military planes—using handcuffs, chains, and other restraints—has raised diplomatic concerns and drawn criticism from human rights groups for violating the fundamental rights of migrants.
While countries like Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico have opposed the US actions, the union government of India has justified the use of such restraints on its own citizens.
Protesting against the union government for blocking the Vikatan website, the Central Chennai district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has announced a demonstration under the banner of “Raising the Voice for Rights” by garlanding the statue of Periyar near Simpson in Anna Salai, Chennai.
Accordingly, more than 50 people garlanded Periyar’s statue and raised slogans against the union government without disrupting the traffic. Following this, the police announced that all of them would be arrested, leading to a scuffle and a road blockade. The police, acting aggressively, arrested everyone involved.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, the Party’s Central Chennai district secretary G Selva said:
“Our constitutional rights state that an accused person should not be shackled while being taken to court. Many small nations across the world oppose the United States, but the union government behaves like a subordinate to the US. The union government has blocked Vikatan’s website for expressing the sentiments of the Indian people.
“For the first time in India, Bharathiyar introduced political cartoons to criticise British rule. If a journalist is arrested or if newsreports, cartoons, satirical sketches, snippets, or photographs are blocked, the CPI(M) will protest against it. The Red flag will always stand by artists, literary figures, journalists, and democrats to ensure their freedom.
“The Vikatan website was blocked simply for publishing a political cartoon, which is an attack on democratic values. Even the chief minister of Tamil Nadu has condemned this act and has reflected the sentiments of the Tamil people. However, when journalists fight for press freedom, the police arrest them. What kind of justice is this?” Selva questioned.
The state committee of the CPI(M) has issued a statement condemning the attack on Vikatan magazine. The statement reads: “In the name of deporting illegal entrants, people were handcuffed and chained while being deported via military planes, as if they were war criminals, by the Trump administration. Modi failed to condemn this inhuman treatment of Indians by the US. Instead, his silence sent a message to the US government that India was not protesting this barbaric act.
A cartoon published in the online edition of Vikatan magazine condemned this inhumane attitude of the US. Enraged by the cartoon, the Modi government blocked the magazine’s online site. This is an act of unilateralism,” the statement condemned.
The statement further adds: “From the very beginning, Modi has been building a larger-than-life image of himself. His government controls the majority of the media and does not spare even online platforms, seeking to dominate them as well. It is important to recall the arrests and raids conducted at the NewsClick premises last year. India has drastically slipped to the 159th position among 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index.
Submitting to the Trump administration, the Modi government signed various deals with the US. It even reduced taxes on liquor imported from America. The US is set to install its nuclear reactors in India soon. Unable to protect the self-respect of its own citizens, the Modi government deals with dissenting voices with an iron hand.
While condemning the Modi government’s suppression of independent media, the state committee of the CPI(M) calls upon all sections of society to raise their voices against this unilateralism.”
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