Vikatan said its website was blocked for \”many users from different locations\” Vikatan published a satirical cartoon on February 10 about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump. The cartoon was about the over 300 illegal Indian immigrants deported from the US, in shackles, in military aircraft that landed in Punjab. Vikatan said, \”We have always worked, and will continue to work, for freedom of expression. If the centre blocks the website due to this cover, we will face it legally.\”NDTV understands that some ISPs, or internet service providers, have blocked access for certain locations, including in Tamil Nadu. However, there are also reports others have backtracked pending a direct order from the centre. The storm broke after the BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief, K Annamalai, flagged the cartoon in complaints to the Press Council of India and junior Information and Broadcasting Minister L Murugan. \”Freedom of press does not give licence to a newspaper to malign a political leader by publishing fake and defamatory writings,\” he said. Such censorship, he declared, was not conducive for the functioning of a good democracy.
