IAC slams action against protests, cartoonist's arrest

Ghaziabad, Sep 10 (IANS) India Against Corruption (IAC) members Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav slammed the union government for suppressing peaceful protests at Onkareswar dam and Kudankulam nuclear power plant and for arresting cartoonist Aseem Triivedi.

Addressing the media at Kaushambi in Ghaziabad, Kejriwal condemned police action against the protestors and asked authorities to desist from loading fuel rods in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant.

He also called upon the authorities not to make the plant operational before implementing the safety measures recommended by the government's expert committee.

"India Against corruption (IAC) unequivocally condemns the arrest of Aseem Trivedi, a reputed political cartoonist by Mumbai police yesterday. IAC firmly stands for freedom of expression and expresses its anguish against a growing culture of intolerance for creative expression in the public domain," Kejriwal said.

He added: "The protest at Omkareswar dam is a justified demand of local farmers. The government should stop increasing the water level at the dam."

In a statement issued earlier in New Delhi, the IAC said: "The use of the sedition law against Aseem Trivedi is blatantly illegal and portrays a sign of a paranoid state that does not behove a mature democracy like India. His harassment smacks of vendetta against the anti-corruption movement."

He said Aseem Trivedi should be unconditionally released and all charges against him, including the baseless charge of sedition, be withdrawn instantly.