MADURAI
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has strongly condemned the arrest of cartoonist Bala and called it a violation of “fundamental right of free speech and expression, which includes the right to criticise public officials.”
The arrest, PUCL’s State secretary R. Murali said in a statement here on Monday, was also meant to be a “chilling example” to scare anyone from expressing their views critical of the government and its policies.
He pointed out that there was no need to arrest the cartoonist, who was subsequently released on bail. If the police wanted to investigate the complaint of the Collector, they could have issued summons for appearance. The PUCL saw a pattern in the “repressive action” of the Tamil Nadu police against a variety of social activists protesting against corruption and anti-people policies across the State.
It wanted the government to withdraw the case against Mr. Bala and take action against the Collector, “who is solely responsible for mishandling the case of Esakkimuthu.”
State president of Samam Kudimakkal Iyakkam C.J. Rajan said the arrest gave room for the apprehension that an “undeclared emergency” was in force in Tamil Nadu. He wondered, in a statement, what the government was trying to achieve by arresting those who pointed to its mistakes, instead of taking corrective steps.
The arrest of the cartoonist was against the pronouncements of the Supreme Court, said A. Kothandam, executive president, and N. Muthu Amuthanathan, general secretary, of Tamil Nadu State Committee of All India Lawyers’ Union.
In a statement, they appealed to the State government to give up all its action against right to speech.
