The Kerala Cartoon Academy has condemned the disruption of ‘Varappoottu’ (Locking Lines), a two-day cartoon workshop held at YMCA Aluva, by alleged activists of the Youth Congress on Sunday.
While exhorting the Youth Congress to shift its focus to combating the pandemic, office bearers of the Academy said the activists were unduly training their gun on the workshop organised to create awareness among children about COVID-19 prevention.
That the incident occurred in a State from where cartoonist Shankar hailed was deplorable, said Academy chairman K. Unnikrishnan and camp coordinator Sudheer Nath. That the activists of an organisation that took pride in the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru who once told Shankar not to spare him in his cartoons spoke volumes, they added.
The Academy had organised ‘cartoon walls’ in all 14 districts of the State, jointly with the Social Security Mission. This was followed by shortlisting 12 cartoonists from Kerala to sketch cartoons to create awareness among children, in coordination with the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development. The two-day event was organised in adherence with the COVID-19 protocol. The disruption by Youth Congress activists, comprising many who were not wearing masks, was a blot on the event. The police had registered a case, said Mr. Nath.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, General Education Principal Secretary Mohammed Hanish, and doctors were among those who had visited the cartoonists on Saturday and Sunday when the workshop was on.
The allegation by the activists that the Academy did not extend support to the family of cartoonist Ibrahim Badusha, who died a month ago, was contrary to facts. A condolence meeting was held a few days after his death, said Mr. Nath.
