Aseem Trivedi was a bit surprised to see the kind of reception he received at the Kerala Literature Festival. The New Delhi-based cartoonist, who was jailed for sedition six years ago for his cartoon, spoke at a couple of sessions and left the audience floored.
“I didn’t expect the people of Kerala to still remember me and it has been such a delight to take part in this festival,” Mr. Trivedi told The Hindu on Sunday. “I am glad that the theme of the festival is there is no democracy without dissent.”
He said it was interesting to note that Kanhaiya Kumar and Arundhati Roy, who too had been jailed for dissent, had also participated in the festival. “And I think it is important that there wasn’t any kind of protest against Arundhati, Kanhaiya or me here,” Mr. Trivedi said. “There could very well have been some kind of protests in most parts of the country.”
Looking back at the cartoon that had landed him in trouble, he said he had no regrets. “Well, at least the charges of sedition have been dropped,” he said. “But, the case is still going on in the court, six years after the incident.”
About the festival, he said it was great to see such big crowds turning up to listen to writers, artists and intellectuals speak. “You will not get so many common people for events like this anywhere else in the country,” he said.
