Monday, October 7, 2024
HomeNews ReportsMP: Hindus protest against Hinduphobic cartoon by TOI cartoonist blaming cow-worshipping Hindus in Ujjain...

MP: Hindus protest against Hinduphobic cartoon by TOI cartoonist blaming cow-worshipping Hindus in Ujjain rape case, burn newspaper copies

The Hindu outift warned of a statewide ban against TOI circulation if strict legal action is not taken by the state authorities against the publication.

On Saturday, September 30, the Hindu outfit Hindu Chetana Sewa Samiti held a massive protest against the Times of India (TOI) which recently targeted the Hindu religion through its cartoon on the Ujjain rape crime. The members of the Hindu organisation gathered at the Madhavganj railway station in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh and burnt TOI newspaper copies in a show of rage against the publication.

Hindu Chetana Sewa Samiti sought action against the Times of India Editor and its chief cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu for the blatant display of Hinduphobia through the cartoon on the Ujjain rape case. It warned of a statewide ban against TOI circulation if strict legal action is not taken by the state authorities against the publication.

Hindu Chetana Sewa Samiti members protest against TOI in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

The founder of the committee, Rampal Singh Rajput, condemned the insensitive way in which the minor rape victim was depicted in the cartoon and also lambasted the cartoonist for portraying Hindus in poor light. He warned that the Hindu outfit would continue to protest throughout the state if appropriate action is not taken against the publication.

Hindu Chetana Sewa Samiti members protest against TOI in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Meanwhile, Hindu Chetana Sewa Samiti District President Nitin Sirbhaiya also stated that a case should be filed against cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu and the director of The Times of India should apologize.

The controversy erupted after TOI’s Chief Cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu posted a cartoon he drew a day after the horrific case of rape of a 12-year-old girl came to the fore from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city. The cartoon showed Hindus worshipping a cow while the girl walked with injuries seeking help from the locals in Ujjain.

Times of India cartoon on the Ujjain case

In the cartoon, what Sandeep essentially represented was not the angst of the girl or the apathy of the society – he represented how Hindus were busy worshipping a cow they consider their mother, while their daughter – a Hindu girl – roamed bleeding, brutalised and helpless.

However, the cartoon missed a major detail, that the girl was helped by a Hindu priest identified as Rahul Sharma. As reported earlier, the victim girl was scared and walking on the streets of Ujjain seeking help. She had injuries on her private parts and was bleeding.

She walked for around 8 km in the city seeking help but to no avail. Finally, when she reached near Dandi Ashram on the Badnagar road in the city, where Rahul Sharma offered her clothes and called for emergency medical service. He informed the police, who recovered the girl and took her to the hospital.

After the cartoon triggered outrage on social media, Sandeep Adhwaryu issued a ‘clarification’, saying that it was his personal cartoon and had nothing to do with Times of India, even though the cartoon clearly carried the heading: TOI- Line of no control. He claimed, “The presence of TOI logo in my previous post was inadvertent as I had forgotten to remove it from the standard format of the frame before posting.”

Join OpIndia's official WhatsApp channel

  Support Us  

Whether NDTV or 'The Wire', they never have to worry about funds. In name of saving democracy, they get money from various sources. We need your support to fight them. Please contribute whatever you can afford

OpIndia Staff
OpIndia Staffhttps://www.opindia.com
Staff reporter at OpIndia

Related Articles

Trending now

Recently Popular

- Advertisement -