New Delhi: Tamil media group Vikatan’s website was reportedly inaccessible hours after the Tamil Nadu cadre of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took exception to a cartoon published by its digital magazine earlier this week.
The cartoon, published on February 10, showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting shackled next to US President Donald Trump.
While the media group said it had not received any communication from the Union government over its website being blocked, several users on X said that they were unable to access the website.
The media group’s official statement noted that the cartoon, about the mistreatment of Indian deportees by US authorities, had drawn criticism from the saffron party’s supporters, including the Tamil Nadu president of the BJP.
“There have been numerous reports stating that the Vikatan website has been blocked by the central government. Many users from different locations have reported that they are unable to access the Vikatan website. However, as of now, there has been no official announcement from the central government regarding the blocking of the Vikatan website,” Vikatan said in an official statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting shackled next to US President Donald Trump. Photo: X/@anusharavi10
“This cartoon was criticised by BJP supporters and [the] BJP state president. Annamalai reportedly lodged a complaint against Vikatan with the central government.
For nearly a century, Vikatan has stood firmly in support of freedom of expression. We have always operated with the principle of upholding free speech and will continue to do so. We are still trying to ascertain the reasons behind the blocking of our website, and are in the process of taking up this matter with the ministry,” the statement added.
Condemning the alleged blocking, Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin in a post on X, said, “Blocking the media for expressing opinions is not good for democracy! This is an example of the fascist nature of the BJP. I request immediate permission to grant access to the blocked website.”
