After Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray now backs cartoonist Aseem Trivedi

MUMBAI: A day after nephew and MNS chief Raj Thackeray backed cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who was arrested on charges of sedition, Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray today came out in his support and opposed the sedition law.

"(Through his cartoons) Trivedi tried to depict the rot in Parliament and the government charged him with sedition," Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"Trivedi did insult the symbols but that does not justify branding him a traitor and imprisoning him," he said.

Afzal Guru is enjoying in Tihar jail, Thackeray quipped. "How can you apply the same yardstick for him and Trivedi?" he asked.

"The sedition law is one brought by Britishers. Britain has dismissed it from their Constitution but it is still there in our Constitution," Thackeray said.

"The government should declare how many people who refused to sing Vande Mataram were charged with sedition. Police merely filed cases against people like Shah Rukh Khan for insulting the national flag but there is no record of him being charged with sedition and arrested for insulting national symbol," he said.