RailEnquiry

KANPUR: Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, who got a hero's welcome on his return to his home town here on Sunday, said he would continue his tirade against the law that charged him with sedition.

"My fight will continue till Section 124 A is scrapped. There is a long way to go and my fight will continue also for those who have been facing charges under this Section," he said, at a meet in Ghantaghar where he addressed a huge crowd after garlanding the statue of Bharat Mata.

A huge crowd mobbed the 25-year-old the moment he stepped out of his compartment in the Neelanchal Express on which he came from Delhi along with other India Against Corruption (IAC) activists, including Alok Dikshit.

The crowd at Kanpur Central railway station gave the RPF and GRP personnel a tough time and more policemen had to be called in to handle the situation. People took turns to garland him and posed for snaps with the cartoonist. Supporters in a large number had been waiting for him since morning waving the national flag, holding garlands and bouqets.

After the warm welcome, a visibly moved and elated Trivedi said he was happy people of his city supported him wholeheartedly throughout his campaign and were so eager to meet him. "People were in touch with me on phone calls and through social networking sites since the time I came out of the Arthur Road jail on Wednesday. The way they showered their love, affection and support is something, which I can't express in words. I really feel proud to belong to Kanpur," he said. Aseem met people at his Shuklaganj residence too, before addressing a huge gathering near the statue of Bharat Mata in the Ghantaghar area of the city.

His parents Ashok Trivedi and Pratibha, along with friends and locals of Harbanshmohal Bhoosatoli area, were there to receive him at the railway station. The cartoonist was arrested by the Mumbai police, who charged him, among other things, with sedition for insulting national emblems and the Constitution in his cartoons.The Mumbai High Court granted bail to the jailed cartoonist on Tuesday, but he refused to leave till sedition charges against him were dropped.Traffic on the road outside the Kanpur Central railway station came to a standstill for nearly an hour.