Aseem Trivedi

• Name — Aseem Trivedi • Born — 17 February 1987 • Birthplace — Shuklaganj, Uttar Pradesh, India • Known for — Political cartoon, Activism • Movement — India Against Corruption, Save Your Voice • Notable Works — Social Work • Awards — Courage in Editorial Cartooning (2012) • Website — aseemtrivedi.in

Aseem Trivedi was born on 17 February 1987 in Shuklaganj at Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh State in India. He studied in Saraswati Vidya Mandir until 12th standard. He started his career as a freelance cartoonist and worked for several Hindi language newspapers and magazines.

In 2011, a nationwide anti corruption movement India Against Corruption gathered pace in India. Aseem Trivedi started a cartoon based campaign, Cartoons Against Corruption to support the movement. He launched a website www.cartoonsagainstcorruption.com and displayed his cartoons in the MMRDA ground, Mumbai during the hunger strike of Anna Hazare.

The website was banned by Mumbai Crime Branch for displaying "defamatory and derogatory cartoons" in Dec, 2011. Following his website's ban, he uploaded his cartoons to a new blog.

After the ban on his website, Aseem Trivedi along with his friend Alok Dixit started Save Your Voice, a campaign for internet freedom. Through the creative protests in several cities, Save Your Voice, initiated a debate over internet freedom in India. The campaign was targeted at the draconian rules framed under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Aseem Trivedi went on an indefinite hunger strike for internet freedom at Jantar Mantar in May 2012, New Delhi. The motive of the hunger strike was to request political parties to support the annulment motion against the Intermediary Guideline Rules of the Information Technology Act 2011 of India.

One of Trivedi's cartoons showed the four lions that form Ashoka Chakra, India's national symbol, replaced by four wolves and the national slogan "truth shall prevail" replaced by "corruption shall prevail." Another cartoon showed Parliament as the "national toilet". He sketched a woman as "Mother India" being assaulted by a politician and a bureaucrat. A caption above this cartoon reads "gang rape of Mother India". He faced serious allegations of insulting national emblem, Parliament, flag and constitution through his cartoons. He was charged with sedition IPC 124A, Section 66A of IT act and National Emblem Act 1971. The case against him was filed in a Mumbai court by a lawyer, who said the pictures mocked national symbols. Trivedi was also charged with posting seditious and obscene content on his website.

He was arrested in Mumbai on 9 September 2012 on charges of sedition, related to the content of his work. He was granted bail with a personal bond of Rs. 5000 on the basis of an independent petition by a lawyer, who also asked the court to remove the accusations of sedition. Sedition charges were dropped by the government in October 2012. Section 66A of IT Act was scrapped by Supreme Court of India in March 2015.

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