Antagonistisch Festival: Aseem Trivedi about the institution of religion

Aseem Trivedi is a political cartoonist and activist from India whose work focuses on free expression and human rights.

He worked as an editorial cartoonist for various Hindi media outlets and
co-founded an opinion-based media website called ‘Dakhalandazi’ before joining ‘India Against Corruption,’ a nationwide movement started in 2011. To bring attention to the anti-corruption movement, he launched a cartoon-based campaign called ‘Cartoons Against Corruption’ and organised several offline exhibitions at protest sites.

The government banned his website in December 2011, stating that his cartoons were derogatory to the Indian parliament and constitution. He then launched the ‘Save Your Voice’ campaign to combat rising instances of internet censorship and organised numerous rallies and hunger strikes across the country.

He was the only Indian cartoonist to draw the Prophet in protest of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. In this cartoon strip, he tried to explain why it was important to draw prophets rather than give in to terrorist organisations’ threats. Then he created a series of 50 cartoons protesting the flogging of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi. Raif was charged with insulting religion and sentenced to ten years in prison, a large fine, and 1000 lashes.

Aseem is now working on a book attacking the institution of religion. After many years of activism, he realised that religious fanaticism is the most serious threat to Indian democracy. People are so committed to their religious identities that polarising them as a vote bank has become very easy. Hindus outnumber Muslims, by far and the government is merely pleasing them by persecuting Muslims. People are no longer concerned with actual issues like corruption, poverty, education, medical care, an independent judiciary, free expression, and human rights.
People are so filled with hatred that even the younger generation has succumbed to communalism. Aseem intends to launch an organised movement for freedom from religion to advocate for a life free of religion and caste. His book, he believes, is the first step in this approach.

Dit evenement werd mogelijk gemaakt met de steun van IMD Oost-Vlaanderen