Making an appeal for the release of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, who was arrested by the Mumbai police on charges of sedition, members of India against corruption Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhusan said while his cartoons could be in bad taste, they certainly don’t invite charges of sedition.

“He has been charged of sedition because of his fight against corruption,” Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent member of IAC said.

Trivedi, a resident of Kanpur and a cartoonist by profession, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Saturday for allegedly posting seditious and obscene content on his website. He has been sent to judicial custody till September 24. 

“Traitors are those who scuffle in Parliament, traitors are those who take cash and ask questions in the parliament and traitors are those who grant coal blocks on the basis of connections and affiliations. Aseem Trivedi is certainly not a traitor,” Kejriwal added.

Defining the charge of sedition supreme court advocate Prashant Bhusan said it is clamped when one incites violence with an objective to overthrow the state. “That’s how a constitution bench of the supreme court defined sedition. Trivedi’s cartoons don’t serve that purpose by any stretch of imagination,” he said.

Calling the government fascist and intolerant of criticism he said it has been liberally using this charge of sedition against anyone who is against it.

Yogendra Yadav, of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) said the ordinary people in the country are increasing coming under attack by the government. “While MPs who have indulged in corruption have been dealt with kid glove, ordinary people who are fighting corruption have been leveled traitor,” he said.