Don't Shoot the Messenger

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September 2005: Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishes cartoons which depicted Islamic prophet Muhammad. These cartoons created a lot of controversies. On Oct 2005, Muslim organization complained about the cartoons and the police investigated on their complain. In Jan 2006 the case was dropped as the police couldn't find any violation of Danish laws.

September 2012: Indian national Assem Trivedi (cartoon against corruption) was arrested on sedition charges. Earlier in Dec 2011 his website was suspended by Crime Branch, Mumbai. The reason for this arrest is that the government thought he discredited the national emblem of union of India in his cartoon. He was later released on bail.

January 2015: The office of French weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo came under attack from armed gunmen which resulted in death of 12 persons (including editor and cartoonist). The armed gunmen claimed that they attacked the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo because they didn't like the newspaper's satire on Islam published in Feb 2006. The French newspaper also re-printed Danish newspapers cartoon depicting Islamic prophet Muhammad.



These are only three illustrations out of several illustrations where one person or a group of persons tries to silence the others view by different ways. During my childhood I used to paint and when I drew cartoons I used to copy the legendary R K Laxman of Times of India. It has been long since I touched a pencil, but still I like the works of R K Laxman, Ajit Ninan, Satish Acharya, Faisal Mohd, Utkal Gaurab and many other cartoonists. I thoroughly enjoy their work and respect their talent. I like Garfield, Tintin, Archies, Asterix and Obelix, Hagar the horrible, Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes, Dennis the menace and lots of other cartoon. It’s a kind of entertainment for me. Cartoons are a way of expressing once feelings so don't crush it. This is my humble tribute to those killed in Charlie Hebdo attack. A cartoonist is as great as the reader who keeps on looking for the next day's cartoon with much anticipation and the art of cartoon lives with the viewers.

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