KOCHI: These days, when there is a knock on the door of cartoonist G. Bala’s home at night, his children shudder with fear, thinking the police have come to take their father away. Yet again.
“They took away my hard disk, even a portable charger, and I begged of them to give them back, but to no avail,” said the cartoonist, recalling the ordeal he had to undergo for cartooning Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and officials in the wake of a family self-immolating over alleged official apathy.
Mr. Bala, who was in town to take part in a seminar on ‘Varayum Vakkum Vilangum’ organised by the Kerala Media Academy and the Ernakulam Press Club in connection with the National Media Day, said he would continue to draw about callousness on the part of the government despite threats.
The self-immolation of the family, he said, shook him to the core, and he was not able to sleep for the next few days. That is why he drew the CM, Tirunelveli District Collector and the Police Commissioner staring at a burning person, only currency notes masking their nakedness. The government treated him badly, primarily to instil fear in him.
The freelance cartoonist said social media had widespread reach and remained non-partisan. “No one can muzzle its voice.”
He was also happy that in Kerala, a cartoon exhibition was held by cartoonists from across the country in solidarity with him. “Such camaraderie couldn’t be seen in Tamil Nadu.”
The seminar was inaugurated by Cyriac Joseph, former judge of the Supreme Court.